Where Bruins Stand With Less Than 10 Games Left In Regular Season originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Bruins are winning games when it counts, and it continued on Saturday afternoon with one of the biggest wins of the season over the Western Conference powerhouse Minnesota Wild.
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The Bruins suffered back-to-back heartbreaking losses to the New Jersey Devils and the Montreal Canadiens in mid-March. Since then, they have won four of the last five. All four wins came against playoff opponents, with the lone loss coming to a 31-29-13 Toronto Maple Leafs team.
Boston barely scraped past the Atlantic Division’s first-place Buffalo Sabres, with an overtime winner on Wednesday night. But they left no doubt on Saturday night, thumping the Wild 6-3 on Boston’s home ice.
Andrew Peeke got the scoring started just over 60 seconds into the contest. Later in the first period, Pavel Zacha stayed red hot, potting his 25th of the season.
Viktor Adrvidsson gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead in the second period, and Elias Linholm put it out of reach early in the third, scoring his 15th of the season.
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The Wild were able to snug it up late in the third period, drawing within one. But it was Zacha proving he is the hottest player in the NHL, putting the final nail in the coffin with 3:10 to play in the third period. Lindholm put the cherry on top with an empty net goal to cap it off.
Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves in the victory and improved his March record to 7-2 in net.
The Bruins earned their 90th point on the season, gaining some breathing room in the Eastern Conference wild card position and snugging up to the Canadiens, who hold the third and final spot in the Atlantic Division playoff picture.
The Bruins are back in action on Sunday, travelling to Columbus to play the Blue Jackets with just nine games remaining in the regular season.
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