BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy celebrated his 20th birthday by scoring the decisive goal in the shootout, Tuukka Rask made 37 saves and the Boston Bruins beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Thursday night.
After Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers’ first attempt of the sudden-death portion of the shootout clanged off the post, McAvoy took the puck and meandered up the ice before firing his shot past Connor Hellebuyck.
Torey Krug scored his sixth goal of the season for Boston (18-10-5), which won its third straight game and sixth of its last seven.
Rask recorded a point for his eighth straight game (7-0-1) as the Bruins beat the Jets for the fourth straight meeting.
Patrik Laine scored his team-leading 18th goal for the Jets. Hellebuyck had 32 saves.
Winnipeg (20-10-6) had its two-game winning streak snapped. The Jets have only won once in Boston since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011.
Two goals less than a minute apart midway in the third period accounted for the only action through 65 minutes.
Rask and Hellebuyck matched each other before Krug’s wrister from the point beat Hellebuyck glove-side with 11:44 remaining.
Laine answered just 57 seconds later, rifling a wrist shot past an out-of-position Rask off a feed from Ehlers.
NOTES: Boston C David Krejci (upper body) was placed on injured reserve Thursday before missing his third straight game. … Bruins LW Brad Marchand, C Riley Nash and C Ryan Spooner didn’t participate in the morning skate because of illness and were game-time decisions. Marchand played while Nash and Spooner sat. … Winnipeg coach Paul Mariner coached his 1,401st NHL game, tying him with Ron Wilson for eighth-most in league history. … Boston recalled 22-year-old C Colby Cave on an emergency basis before the game. Cave received an interference penalty 1:11 into his NHL debut. … Bruins D Adam McQuaid (broken right fibula) could return Saturday after missing 27 games. … Jets captain and RW Blake Wheeler spent his first two-plus NHL seasons with Boston. … Hellebuyck played in college at nearby UMass-Lowell.
UP NEXT
Jets: At the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Bruins: Host Detroit on Saturday.
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