BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins (29-20-2) blitzed early, then weathered a fierce storm from the Vegas Golden Knights (24-13-12) 4-3 on Thursday night inside TD Garden.
David Pastrnak scored the game-winner in the second period and led the way all night for the Bruins with three points.
The game itself looked like it could become a blowout in the first period, with the Bruins striking for three goals in 54 seconds midway through the frame.
Two came on the power play off the sticks of Elias Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy, while Tanner Jeannot sniped one just seconds after Lindholm's goal made it 2-0. Both goals featured primary assists from Pastrnak.
The goals came after a Tomas Hertl double-minor for high-sticking, a costly penalty for the Golden Knights.
In the second period, Nikita Zadorov bodied Hertl and fed Pastrnak, who one-timed it for an easy goal to make it 4-0, seemingly killing the game off from any notion of a comeback.
Then, the third period happened.
Just 31 seconds into the third, Jack Eichel tapped in a look on the backdoor and gave Vegas a hint of life.
Then, Marat Khusnutdinov took a roughing penalty. Vegas scored on the man advantage courtesy of Hertl, and all of a sudden, the four-goal lead became a two-goal lead.
Then, with the net empty, Pavel Dorofeyev snuck one through Joonas Korpisalo with under three minutes to go, and it officially became a terrifying situation for Boston.
Korpisalo didn't flinch. He turned away grade-A looks from Eichel and survived mass chaos in front of his net.
By the time the horn sounded, Korpisalo saw 21 pieces of rubber fly his way in the third period, stopping 18 of them.
It's Korpisalo's fourth straight victory in games he starts. The Finnish netminder's been extremely steady for the vast majority of the season. He stopped 29 in the win.
Korpisalo was excellent tonight.
As for Akira Schmid, he made 24 saves in the defeat for Vegas.
First Period:
The Bruins returned home following their two-game road trip wanting to have a strong response following the drubbing at the hands of the Dallas Stars.
Boy, did they ever. But it didn't start so well. Just 3:22 into the game, Pavel Zacha had his stick up, and clipped Mark Stone, gifting Vegas an early man advantage.
The Golden Knights came within inches of an opening goal, with Ivan Barbashev wide-open on the backdoor. Korpisalo knew, and sprung into action and made a phenomenal save to keep the score at 0-0.
Then, after the man advantage, Jack Eichel somehow snuck a puck through two Boston defenders to Barbashev alone in front, but again Korpisalo made a fantastic save.
Beyond the obvious importance of not falling behind early, it bought Boston time to settle in.
They did, and then Alex Steeves caught a high stick from Tomas Hertl, and bled. That gave Boston a four-minute power play, a big opportunity to score at least one goal to break the ice.
54 seconds later, it was 3-0 Boston.
Two strikes on the power play against what's statistically the best road penalty kill in the NHL would've been enough and a huge thing to admire. Scoring twice in 35 seconds on the PP was astonishing.
The first was a McAvoy blast from the blue line, set up by Pastrnak. 30 seconds later, tic-tac-toe passing from Geekie to Pastrnak then to Elias Lindholm, who buried it.
Then, Boston's fourth line came out for its post-power play shift. Sean Kuraly stole it, fed Jeannot, who walked in an absolutely sniped Schmid for the 3-0 lead.
Vegas didn't record another shot in the period. Boston poured it on, nearly making it a ridiculous 4-0, but Schmid robbed both Viktor Arvidsson and Pavel Zacha to keep it at just a three goal deficit.
Second Period:
The Bruins picked up where they left off, continuing to carry play for most of the second period.
The period began with two minutes of four-on-four action due to penalties to Geekie and Cole Reinhardt after the horn in the first, and chances came a plenty.
First, Korpisalo had to be sharp to keep out a Hertl wraparound that very nearly snuck in. On other end, Pastrnak had a strong one-timer get turned aside by Schmid.
Then came the highlight of the night, somehow just as exciting as three goals in 54 seconds.
I don't think there's really any equivalent for Nikita Zadorov body bagging Hertl, a perfect euphemism for the entire night.
Pastrnak also deserved a goal, he'd been without one for two games, so you had to know he was due.
Boston killed off a Zadorov penalty later in the period, but it was very tame on the ice inside TD Garden after the 4-0 goal, with Boston just controlling play.
The shots were equal at eight in the period, but it moved Boston's advantage to 23-12 for the game.
Third Period:
Vegas came out absolutely flying to begin the third period, and Eichel tapped one in just 31 seconds into the frame.
Then, old friend Jeremy Lauzon crunched Pastrnak at the blue line. That led to Marat Khusnutdinov going after Lauzon, inadvertently taking a roughing minor in the process.
Vegas scored quickly on the power play, with Hertl wiring a shot past Korpisalo, who had no chance. Mark Stone made the play with a nifty pass from below the red line.
45 seconds later, Jonathan Aspirot took an interference penalty, and everyone in Boston their breath.
Korpisalo stood tall on the kill, stopping an Eichel one-timer and being dominant positionally, keeping Vegas off the board.
Boston got a man advantage of their own, but couldn't take advantage to regain a three goal edge.
Vegas dominated the rest of the way. They hemmed Boston in and played in Boston's zone for what felt like the entire period, eventually leading to Dorofeyev's goal with 2:35 to play.
It almost felt inevitable Vegas would tie it. From 4-0 to 4-3, Vegas had all the pieces ready to steal the game from Boston.
Thanks to a gigantic block from McAvoy, and more big saves from Korpisalo, the Bruins hung on for a huge win. Boston finishes the night three points ahead of the playoff cut line.
Next up, a Saturday night rivalry game in TD Garden against the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs are three points ahead of the Bruins for third in the Atlantic Division. It's an absolutely massive game.