Patrice Bergeron, right, celebrates with teammates after his third-period goal Saturday afternoon in a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
BOSTON — Tyler Bertuzzi set up a goal in his Boston debut and Linus Ullmark made 24 saves, helping the NHL-leading Bruins beat Patrick Kane and the New York Rangers 4-2 on Saturday.
Charlie Coyle scored off Bertuzzi’s feed and set up Tomas Nosek’s short-handed goal in Boston’s 10th straight win. The Bruins improved 26-2-3 at home and increased their points total to 103.
With 20 games remaining, Boston is 13 wins away from the tying the NHL record of 62 wins in a season, and 29 points away from another league record.
“For us, it’s the Stanley Cup. That’s all that matters,” Ullmark said. “Records are meant to be broken, but once you have the hardware, it can never be taken away from you.”
Boston stars David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron scored in the third period. It was Pastrnak’s 44th on the season, and No. 23 for Bergeron.
Playing his first game since posting a club-record 54 saves in an overtime win at Calgary on Tuesday, Ullmark increased his record to 32-4-1.
Alexis Lafreniere scored both goals for New York, and Igor Shesterkin stopped 20 shots. The Rangers have lost six of eight.
“They’ve got a great squad and they acquired some great players,” New York defenseman Braden Schneider said. “They’re at the top of the league right now and that’s where we want to be. I think we can skate with them and we can play with them and I think we gave them a good run tonight. I’m excited for us to get clicking. … I think we can give them a good run for the money.”
Kane, acquired in a trade with Chicago on Tuesday, is scoreless in two games with the Rangers.
Boston forward Brad Marchand returned to the lineup after missing the last half of Thursday’s victory because of a lower-body injury.
After becoming the fastest team in NHL history to reach 100 points in their last game, the Bruins completed a three-game season sweep of the Rangers.
Bertuzzi, acquired in a trade with Detroit on Thursday, stepped into Boston’s lineup and made an immediate contribution. He collected the puck behind the net late in the first period and sent it out to Coyle, who one-timed it past Shesterkin to make it 1-0.
“It was good to kind of get my feet wet and hear the crowd, celebrate with the guys and be in the mix a little bit,” said Bertuzzi, who admitted he was nervous before the game.
Just 30 seconds into the second period, Coyle centered a pass to a cutting Nosek, who shifted quickly at the edge of the crease before tucking the puck into the net just past Shesterkin’s left skate.
“We just find a way with this group,” Coyle said. “There’s no sense of panic. … If things aren’t working, we play a simple style and play the right way and usually that works out for us.”
The lively matchup – with fans breaking out in chants for each team – featured two teams that bolstered their rosters for the postseason before Friday’s trade deadline.
New York picked up three-time Stanley Cup champion Kane from Chicago and four-time All-Star Vladimir Tarasenko from St. Louis, while Boston also got defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from Washington before reeling in Bertuzzi, who scored 30 goals last season.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
