BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins (27-19-2) raised Zdeno Chara's number 33 to the rafters, then beat the Seattle Kraken (21-16-9) 4-2 on Thursday night inside TD Garden.
With festivities for Chara's big night beginning as early as four hours before puck drop, the night provided a tremendous atmosphere all night long.
The Bruins themselves came ready to play, jumping all over the Kraken with two goals in the first four minutes, with Marat Khusnutdinov breaking the ice just 54 seconds into the game, while Viktor Arvidsson had the follow-up just minutes later.
Jeremy Swayman was the night's first star, making 26 saves in the victory, his 19th of the season. Joey Daccord made 20 saves in the defeat for the Kraken.
Seattle took their timeout and surged the rest of the period, cutting the deficit in half with a power play goal. After that, the game settled in and became a tighter-checked game, with the teams trading occasional chances.
Mark Kastelic's early second-period shorthanded goal gave Boston a 3-1 lead, before the Kraken added another power play goal later in the period.
For a third straight game, the Bruins took a one-goal lead into the third period. For a third straight game, the Bruins locked things down and won the game in regulation.
It's a clean sweep of the five-game home stand, with all five wins coming in regulation. Boston outscored the opposition 20-5 in the process. It doesn't get any better than that for the Bruins.
The win also keeps Boston in a playoff spot, above the cut line, despite slightly trailing by points percentage.
First Period:
The Bruins came out on fire and ready to add to the party atmosphere inside TD Garden, and Khusnutdinov got it started just 54 seconds into the first period.
Fittingly on a night honoring Chara, it's one of his proteges, Charlie McAvoy, springing the goal. Just an excellent feed, sending Khusnutdinov in, where he makes absolutely no mistake.
2:51 later, Viktor Arvidsson doubled the lead.
It's the sixth straight game for Boston's second line scoring, with Arvidsson maintaining a point streak throughout. This goal couldn't be prettier, with Pavel Zacha setting up with a phenomenal Gretzky Curl at the top of the circle. Arvidsson's looking for Mittelstadt, but gets the bounce off the Kraken defender.
Lane Lambert, Seattle's coach, immediately called timeout and calmed his team.
The Kraken sure responded. They outshot the Bruins 9-4 the rest of the period, and quickly drew a penalty on Jonathan Aspirot.
It took five seconds for the Kraken's man advantage to slice the lead in half. Jared McCann found a wide-open Chandler Stephenson on the backdoor, who tapped it in. Couldn't be any easier for Seattle, with both Stephenson and Jordan Eberle all alone in front of Swayman.
Swayman then locked it down for the rest of the period, not allowing anything to beat him, despite incessant pressure from the Kraken.
By the time the period ended, Boston was left catching their breath and looking for a regroup heading into the second period.
Second Period:
As the second period began, the Bruins continued to find themselves chasing the Kraken. It didn't help matters that Andrew Peeke exited the game before the period began with a lower-body injury, unable to return.
The chasing led to an early period slashing penalty by Tanner Jeannot, giving Seattle a big chance to tie the game.
Instead, Mark Kastelic took control of the situation.
It's such a phenomenal goal from Kastelic, one born out of his hard work. He picks the pocket of Matty Beniers, walks in, and beats Daccord with a backhander.
Emblematic of how Kastelic always plays, and a just reward.
Seattle continued to push, with McCann getting a partial break, but Swayman kept it out with the glove. Eventually, Nikita Zadorov took Boston's third penalty of the game.
With the special teams tied at one, the Kraken took back the advantage.
Eeli Tolvanen sniped one short-side on Swayman, who had no chance. Mason Lohrei whiffed on an attempt to swipe the rebound away from Tolvanen, which had come after a point blast from Brandon Montour hit the wall.
Boston began to wake up again, only leading by one goal once more. David Pastrnak had a golden opportunity, but Daccord made the save of the game. Pastrnak had a rebound try off an Elias Lindholm shot, but Daccord sprawled and got his glove to Pastrnak's bid.
Morgan Geekie almost broke his cold streak with a point-blank look, but couldn't get it to go.
Ultimately, Boston's late surge did not bring them an insurance marker, but levelled off shots in the period, with both teams posting one goal and seven shots in the frame.
Third Period:
The third period began with a fourth Bruins penalty kill, and the crowd inside TD Garden let their displeasure be heard.
For the first time, a Seattle power play did not result in a goal, with the first three yielding two Kraken strikes and the Kastelic shorty.
The Bruins then received their first man advantage of the game, with a chance to score a big tally, but did not generate much and it became a missed opportunity.
The game became tighter, with little room for either offense to operate in an already tightly-checked game. Alex Steeves dropped the gloves with Ryan Winterton midway through, which got the crowd going.
The game itself, much to Boston's design, grew quite boring. They suffocated Seattle's rush chances and didn't let the Kraken keep the puck deep for any stretches.
The Bruins looked extremely comfortable closing out another close game in the third period.
As the clock wound down, Beniers took a penalty with one minute to go. Pastrnak cashed in with an empty-netter to pad Boston's power play percentage.
Next up for the Bruins is a trip to see Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks in the Windy City, Saturday night, kicking off a brief two-game road trip to Chicago and then a game with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.