BOSTON (AP) -- The Chicago Blackhawks might have a few more morning meetings.

On Saturday morning, Blackhawks coach Bob Pulford gave his struggling team the option of competing or quitting. After a 9-3 rout of the Boston Bruins on Saturday night, it was evident which option the Blackhawks chose.

	Michael Nylander responded to new coach Bob Pulford's pep talk by scoring four goals on Saturday night.

"In tonight's game, we played with discipline and structure and we competed," Pulford said.

Michael Nylander scored four goals and Doug Gilmour and Eric Daze each added a pair as the Blackhawks broke a three-game road losing streak.

"We have lost a few games this season because we haven't been ready to play and we talked about that this morning," Nylander said. "Tonight we scored. We've had opportunities like that in other games, but haven't put the puck in the net."

Nylander, who has seven goals this season, last scored as many as three in a game on April 7, 1993, at Ottawa as a member of the Hartford Whalers.

In his first NHL start, goalie Marc Lamothe stopped 22 shots. Lamothe, whose only previous NHL action came when he replaced injured goalie Jocelyn Thibault on November 27, allowed first-period power-play goals to Ray Bourque and Joe Thornton before settling down.

With the game tied 2-2, the Blackhawks scored four times in the second period to chase Bruins goalie Byron Dafoe at the 7:30 mark.

"The bottom line is we turned in a terrible effort tonight," Dafoe said. "The last five or six games, we've been fortunate. We haven't played top-level hockey and maybe this is the wake up call we needed. It's definitely humbling."

Nylander's second goal put Chicago up 3-2 at 2:30 of the period. Dafoe left the game after surrendering goals by Gilmour and Nylander 27 seconds apart as the Blackhawks took a 5-2 lead.

Dafoe's replacement, Robbie Tallas, didn't fare much better for the Bruins, winless in their last four games.

"We were fortunate they didn't score 15," Bruins coach Pat Burns said. "You can bench one, you can bench two, but you can't bench the whole team."

Jean-Pierre Dumont scored at the 13:47 mark to give the Blackhawks a 6-2 lead. Daze scored 55 seconds into the third to make it 7-2. Joe Hulbig scored for the Bruins at 12:07 to make it 7-3.

Nylander's fourth goal of the game at 13:21, and Daze's 10th of the season at 15:45 capped the scoring.

The Blackhawks took a 2-0 lead in the first period on Doug Gilmour's power-play goal at 5:19, and Nylander's first goal of the night at 7:34.

It was the first time since Nov. 10 that the Bruins allowed more than three goals in a game. That game, Dafoe's second after a holdout, the Bruins lost 6-2 at Buffalo.