Music: {allcanada} Lucic, Iginla lead Bruins past slumping Canucks

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

{allcanada} Lucic, Iginla lead Bruins past slumping Canucks

The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 - Justin Timberlake

BOSTON -- The last time the Boston Bruins visited Milan Lucic's hometown, the Vancouver Canucks defended their turf with a 6-2 victory.

The Bruins left wing made sure his team got a measure of revenge back in Boston on Tuesday.

Lucic opened the scoring 5:12 into the game, and the Bruins went on to win for the sixth time in their past seven games by defeating the Canucks 3-1 at TD Garden.

Jarome Iginla and Daniel Paille also scored for Boston (36-16-3), and Tuukka Rask stopped 27 of 28 shots.

The Canucks, who were shut out by the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, snapped a scoring drought of 99:38 in the second period on a goal by newly acquired defenseman Raphael Diaz.

Vancouver (27-22-9) has lost five straight games in regulation.

Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo played in Boston for the first time since the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. In that series, he allowed 15 goals on 66 shots and was pulled twice in three games at the Garden. He fared better Tuesday, making 29 saves on 32 shots in the loss.

The Canucks won the territorial battle in the first period and held a 9-5 edge in shots on goal through the first 20 minutes. But the Bruins scored the only goal of the period.

After Iginla dished the puck off to David Krejci in stride at the red line, the Bruins gained the zone and Krejci waited for Lucic to join the play. Lucic took Krejci's pass at the high slot and beat Luongo from between the hash marks high to the blocker side for a 1-0 lead.

The Bruins outshot the Canucks 13-10 in the second period and extended their lead to two goals.

Iginla connected on a power-play goal off a centering pass by Zdeno Chara at 7:59 for a 2-0 lead. Moments earlier, Rask stopped a potential game-tying goal by Daniel Sedin, who made a steal at the blue line and skated in on Rask all alone.

The Canucks ended their scoreless drought on a goal by Diaz, who made his Canucks debut. The defenseman slapped the puck from the right point past Rask high to the glove side at 11:28 of the second period to cut the Bruins' lead in half.

Brad Marchand thought he gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead at 13:49 of the second, but the goal was disallowed because of contact between Torey Krug and Luongo. Paille, though, made sure there was a 3-1 score after 40 minutes; he beat Luongo on a breakaway after a long pass by Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

Boston will play at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, and the Canucks will visit the Montreal Canadiens that night.

The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 - Justin Timberlake