On a night devoted to honoring franchise icon Zdeno Chara, the Boston Bruins backed up the celebration with a fast start and a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
Boston struck quickly, with Marat Khusnutdinov and Viktor Arvidsson scoring within the first 3:45. Mark Kastelic added a short-handed goal in the second period, and David Pastrnak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final seconds. Jeremy Swayman turned aside 26 shots as the Bruins completed a rare sweep of a five-game homestand and improved to seven wins in their last eight outings.
Seattle received goals from Chandler Stephenson and Eeli Tolvanen, while Joey Daccord made 20 saves. The Kraken have now dropped four of their past five games.
The evening opened with an emotional ceremony honoring Chara, the longtime captain of Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup champions. Joined by legends Bobby Orr and Bruins president Cam Neely, Chara watched as his children helped raise his No. 33 jersey to the TD Garden rafters.
Boston wasted little time turning emotion into offense. Khusnutdinov finished a breakaway off a long pass from Charlie McAvoy just 54 seconds into the game. Moments later, Arvidsson’s centering attempt deflected off Seattle forward Jordan Eberle and into the net, forcing an early Kraken timeout.
After Stephenson pulled Seattle within one, Kastelic created separation again by stripping Matty Beniers of the puck and converting on a short-handed rush to make it 3-1.
Up next
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Kraken: Visit Utah on Saturday.
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Bruins: Travel to Chicago on Saturday.
