Marchand's big night leads Bruins past Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Brad Marchand scored three goals, including the winner, and assisted on another as the Boston Bruins doubled the Vancouver Canucks 6-3 on Monday night.
Marchand scored all of his goals in the third period as the Bruins overcame a 3-2 second-period deficit. He recorded his second career hat trick and moved into a tie with Sidney Crosby for the NHL goal-scoring lead with 35 markers on the season.
The Bruins (37-26-7) won for the 11th time in 14 games since Bruce Cassidy replaced Claude Julien as coach. The Canucks (28-32-9) suffered their fourth consecutive loss.
David Backes, Zdeno Chara and David Krejci also scored for the Bruins.
Markus Granlund scored twice for Vancouver, and Alexander Edler added a goal. Daniel and Henrik Sedin both had two assists.
Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask posted 26 saves, while Canucks counterpart Ryan Miller had 38 as Boston outshot Vancouver 43-29.
Marchand forged a 3-3 deadlock at the 58-second mark of the third period as he backhanded in David Pastrnak's rebound after Miller stopped him on a partial breakaway and was caught facing his net. About 12 minutes later, Marchand notched his second goal as he stole the puck from Henrik Sedin in the corner, slipped it through the legs of Alex Edler and then around Miller.
Krejci padded the Bruins' lead before Marchand completed his hat trick with an empty-netter in the final minute.
Backes put the Bruins on the scoreboard first, at 6:48 of the opening period, as Patrice Bergeron's pass went in off his skate.
Granlund created a 1-1 tie at 15:47 of the first period as he fired in Daniel Sedin's pass across the high slot. Just 1:18 seconds later, Granlund whipped in Daniel Sedin's goalmouth pass on a bang-bang, three-way passing play that included Henrik Sedin.
Chara drew the Bruins even at 2-2 just under 14 minutes into the second period as his harmless-looking point shot sneaked through Miller. But Edler restored Vancouver's lead 21 seconds later as he put in his own rebound off a shot from the wing.
NOTES: Canucks G Ryan Miller played the 700th game of his NHL career. ... Bruins G Tuukka Rask earned his 200th career win. He improved his career record to 200-119-47. .. F Drew Shore made his debut with the Canucks after signing as a free agent Sunday for the remainder of the season. He travelled to Vancouver from Switzerland, where he played his final game for Kloten on Saturday. ... Canucks D Chris Tanev missed his second consecutive game due to food poisoning. F Markus Granlund returned after missing one game with the same problem. ... Earlier Monday, the Canucks signed junior-age D Jalen Chatfield, 20, to a three-year entry-level contract. He will remain with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League.