Raleigh, NC (Sportsbooks) - Mark Recchi was one of three Bruins to record a goal and an assist, and Boston boosted its playoff chances with a key 5-2 road victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
David Krejci and Michael Ryder also added a goal and a helper, while Patrice Bergeron and Johnny Boychuk both scored for the Bruins, who moved three points ahead of the Rangers for the final playoff spot in the East. New York was defeated by Montreal, 3-1, at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
Tuukka Rask made 30 saves in the victory for Boston, which had lost four of five and finished a seven-game road trip with a 3-3-1 mark.
Eric Cole scored both goals for the Hurricanes, who stand 10 points behind the Bruins after dropping three of four. Manny Legace allowed all five goals on 37 shots in the loss.
Boston needed just 23 seconds to take a 1-0 lead on Bergeron's redirection of a Dennis Seidenberg slap shot from the point.
About 8 1/2 minutes into the second period, the Bruins went up by two on Boychuk's tally. Matt Hunwick split a pair of defenders with a perfect pass to Boychuk, giving him a clear path to the net. Boychuk skated toward the crease and slid it in between Legace's pads.
Carolina cut its deficit in half with 6:07 left in the second on a power-play goal. Jamie McBain, who notched his first NHL point in his first game with an assist on the sequence, fired a slap shot from the centerpoint and the puck bounced out to Cole, who chipped it into the wide open net.
Boston restored its two-goal cushion on Recchi's tally 45 seconds into the third, but Cole answered with his second of the game 1:08 later to keep the Hurricanes within 3-2.
The Bruins then struck for two goals in less than a three-minute span to seal the victory. Ryder gave the visitors a 4-2 advantage on a quick wrister from the slot that cleanly beat Legace with 10:12 to play, and Krejci's goal with 7:33 remaining extended the lead to three.
Game Notes
Boston leads the season series, 2-1, and has won seven of the last eight regular season meetings with the Hurricanes...Carolina fell to 18-14-3 at home, while the Bruins improved to 17-13-6 on the road...Krejci recorded a plus-four rating for the game...This was Paul Maurice's 800th game coaching the Hurricanes franchise...Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen played in his 400th game.
