Eriksson's Hat Trick Leads Bruins Over Minnesota, 4-2
BOSTON -- Right winger Loui Eriksson delivered the third hat trick of his NHL career, leading the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
Eriksson, who has arguably been the Bruins' most consistent player through the team's inconsistent 9-8-1 start, scored two goals -- one on a power play -- in the second period. He then worked a give-and-go with center David Krejci 4:14 into the third to complete his first hat trick as a Bruin with his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
The hat trick was Eriksson's first since Dec. 31, 2009, when he was with the Dallas Stars.
The win evened Boston's record at 2-2 on its current five-game homestand and raised the Bruins' home record to 3-6-1.
Left winger Brad Marchand scored the Bruins' first goal and Krejci assisted on two of Eriksson's scores.
Backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, making his first home start with the Bruins, stopped 24 shots to raise his record to 4-1.
Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who came in 0-4 with a 5.56 goals-against average and .854 save percentage against the Bruins, made 33 saves in the loss.
Minnesota (10-5-3) finished a four-game road trip with a 1-2-1 record and three straight losses.
Left winger Jordan Zucker and center Jordan Schroeder scored for the Wild, but Zucker was injured by a slash to the back of his left leg by Boston left winger Matt Beleskey in the closing second. He had to be helped off the ice, dragging the leg behind him.
Minnesota right winger Tomas Vanek, who came into the game with 30 goals and 63 points in 57 games against Boston, was kept off the score sheet and was in the penalty box when the Bruins scored a power play goal for the 10 time in the last 11 games.
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead 5 1/2 minutes into the game when Marchand, who had served an early penalty, set right winger Brett Connolly up in the slot. Dubnyk stopped the shot and Marchand pounced on the rebound, circles the net and beat the goaltender to the other side.
Both teams scored twice in the second period. The Wild tied the score soon after killing off 1:16 of five-on-three time -- Gustavsson stopped center Mikko Koivu's shot, but Zucker putting home the rebound.
The Bruins scored the next two and both were scored by Eriksson, even though the first one was originally credited to Connelly, after Eriksson's centering pass hit off the right skate of Minnesota right winger Jason Pominville and got by Dubnyk. Eriksson then jammed home a pass from center Patrice Bergeron, with the goal surviving a review at 11:21 of the period.
But the Wild got one back when Suter wristed one from the left point that beat Gustavsson over the right shoulder at 13:37.
Bruins rookie center Frank Vatrano left the game in the second period with an apparent shoulder injury. He was slammed hard into the end boards by Minnesota defenseman Nate Prosser, stayed down for a few seconds as the play went the other way, then got up and slowly skated to the bench, holding his hand up by his chest. He went directly down the runway to the locker room.
NOTES: Minnesota D Marco Scandella, who suffered a lower-body injury on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, was placed on injured reserve, meaning he has to miss at least seven days and two games. "He's a huge part of our defensive game," said Wild coach Mike Yeo, who was also without Scandella for two games last week after he left for two days to be with his ailing father. "But (without) his skating ability, his special teams, there's going to be a lot of opportunity there for somebody else to step in and try to take advantage of it." ... The Wild, who recalled D Gustav Olofsson from the minors, have been dealing with injuries up front, with LW Zach Parise missing his sixth game with a knee injury. ... The Boston defense got one Miller (Colin) back but not the other Miller (Kevan), who will miss at least four games with an upper-body injury. ... Wild D Nate Prosser played in his 200th NHL game.
