Hall scores PPG in 3rd period, Bruins beat Jets 4-2

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- — Taylor Hall scored a power-play goal with 4:47 left in the third period and the Boston Bruins beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 Friday night.

Brad Marchand and Trent Frederic also scored, and Charlie McAvoy added a short-handed empty-netter for Boston, which has won four of its last five. Charlie Coyle picked up three assists and McAvoy had one.

Linus Ullmark made 27 saves for the Bruins, who were coming off a 4-2 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday night.

“When you play, anyone who’s competitive, you lose a game you want to come right back and redeem yourself and win,” Coyle said. “That’s stuff we always talk about when we go down. We lose one, we’re chomping at the bit to come back and have a good game. And that’s what you need, especially during these later stages of the season and in the playoffs.”

Late in the third period, Hall took advantage of a bouncing puck in front of the net and put a rebound past Hellebuyck for his 13th goal of the season to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead.

McAvoy added a short-handed empty-netter in the final minute to seal Boston’s win.

Boston was without captain Patrice Bergeron (arm) for a second straight game. He was replaced by Jack Studnicka between Marchand and Jake DeBrusk.

Adam Lowry and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Winnipeg, which had won four of its last five games. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 41 shots.

“(The Bruins) stay above you, they forecheck hard, they make smart plays in the neutral zone,” Lowry said. “I think that’s been the story a little too often for us. You know, we turn pucks over at lines. We’re not direct, and we played pretty slow I think.”

Forward Andrew Copp was back on the ice for the Jets. He missed one game for precautionary reasons after taking a heavy hit in last Sunday’s game against St. Louis.

Boston outshot Winnipeg 14-11 in the first period and 22-4 in the second.

Ehlers got a penalty shot 4:34 into opening period after being tripped by Mike Reilly. The speedy forward chose to go in slow at Ullmark, who turned aside the shot with a pad.

“I haven’t taken a penalty shot in what, five, six years?” Ehlers said. “I don’t really know. You try different things. Five-hole, I’ve been pretty lucky with those in my career, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I was too slow in my movement before the shot.”

Both teams had a power play, with Hellebuyck making a quick stop on David Pastrnak, who was playing in his 500th career NHL game.

In the second period, Winnipeg didn’t get a shot on goal until 12:36 in, while the Bruins had 15 at that point, including two that went into the net.

Marchand began the scoring at 4:42 on a 2-on-1 with DeBrusk, getting his 25th goal of the season.

Frederic made it 2-0 when the puck was inadvertently tapped to him in the slot and he went to the side of Hellebuyck and put a backhand behind the goalie at 7:12.

“We don’t like losing,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said of his team’s effort after a loss. “I think our guys the next night are usually ready to go.

"That first period was OK coming off a day off. They had good jump. We kind of battled back after a few early chances and we really found our footing in the second period. Then, obviously, the third was not perfect to start by any means. But again, we wanted to win and it showed.”

The Jets didn’t start slow in the third period, putting 10 shots at Ullmark in the first six minutes and scoring on two.

Lowry tipped in Evgeny Svechnikov's shot at 2:29 and Ehlers made it 2-2 at 3:54. Kyle Connor assisted on Ehlers’ goal, extending his point streak to six games with five goals and six assists.

Pastrnak went to the penalty box at 6:59 for hooking, but Ullmark denied Mark Scheifele in a scramble in front of the net and stopped three other scoring attempts.

The Bruins had the man advantage twice in the final eight minutes of the third and Hall made good on the second opportunity.

Winnipeg pulled Hellebuyck for the extra attacker with 1:39, then got another body when Boston forward Erik Haula was called for tripping 6 seconds later, but McAvoy got his empty-netter with 31 seconds left.

UP NEXT

Bruins: At Montreal on Monday night to finish a four-game trip.

Jets: At Chicago on Sunday night.

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