www.officialkings.com

[hongwei28]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — David Backes didn’t know what to think when Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy called his number in the sixth round of a shootout Wednesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights.So , he didn’t.Instead, Backes took instruction from teammate Brad Marchand, skated in stick side on veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and scored the game-winner low-glove side to lift Boston to a 3-2 win over the Golden Knights for the Bruins’ season-high seventh straight victory.“I was still in shock when he called my name with some of the guys that hadn’t gone yet,” Backes said. “I thought there was at least a handful before me, but got the call and went out there, I’m a shooter by nature … I tried low glove and it worked out and good ending to the fourth game of our trip. He’s an all-world goalie altogether, but in shootouts he’s lights out.”Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand scored in regulation for Boston, which is 8-1-1 in its last 10 on the road — including wins in the first four games of a western trip. The Bruins’ win streak is their longest since a 12-game run in 2014.Jaroslav Halak stopped 31 shots and has now won his last three starts, allowing just three goals along the way.“It was a battle, I thought the first period they were better than us, but I think as the game went on, we started playing better,” Halak said. “I think we battled through it. I was happy going into overtime, at least we get a point. And that extra point for us , I think, is huge.”The Bruins, who are 9-0-3 in their last 12 overall, haven’t lost in regulation since a 3-2 setback to the New York Rangers on Jan. 19. Boston improved to 11-2-2 against Pacific Division opponents and 18-4-4 versus Western Conference foes.“I thought it was a good hockey game, it could have went either way, similar type teams I think,” Cassidy said. “The whole month we’ve been good, consistent. Part of that is to do with our lineup has become consistent because our injured guys are back. They’ve got some time under their belt. We had a lot of different guys in and out, so we’re gaining some chemistry again.”With the win, second-place Boston increased its lead in the Atlantic Division over Toronto to four points.Meanwhile, Vegas fell to 3-6-1 in February and 3-8 since Jan. 21. The Golden Knights, who have been outscored 40-27 during their 11-game skid, are 1-5-1 in their last seven games at home.Reilly Smith and Nate Schmidt scored for Vegas, while Fleury finished with 25 saves. Fleury has lost four in a row and seven of his last nine starts. He has allowed 19 goals in last five starts , and 28 in the nine-game span.“We got one point and played a great game,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “I’m tired of saying the (other team’s) goalie was the first star, but he played great and we hit a couple posts. I think if we played the game over, we’d probably win it. But it was a great hockey game. I thought it was a playoff atmosphere against a great team. Were we disappointed we didn’t get two points? Definitely. But I’m not going to fault our group for that effort. They played real well and worked hard. They did exactly what I wanted.”DeBrusk scored for Boston in the first round of the shootout and William Karlsson tied it for Vegas in the second.DeBrusk got things going for the Bruins 11 minutes into the game, when he put a nifty spin move on Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore as he collected a pass from David Krejci and fired a wrist shot past Fleury to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Smith tied it late in the first period when he punched home a rebound from Cody Eakin’s shot from the point.Marchand gave the Bruins a brief lead, as he took a pass from Danton Heinen and beat Fleury with a blast 69 seconds into the third. Schmidt raced past McAvoy, collected the puck and snapped a backhand over Halak to tie the game just 27 seconds later.“I think just in general our team knows, this time a year you gotta play together, play the right way and I think that’s a credit to the leadership and that’s why we’ve won games,” Cassidy said. “It’s not just one thing, it’s a combination of playing solid hockey.”NOTES: The Bruins announced they acquired C Charlie Coyle from Minnesota for C Ryan Donato and a fifth-round pick. Donato will join the Wild in New York for their game at the Rangers on Thursday. … The Golden Knights assigned D Jake Bischoff to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves earlier Wednesday.UP NEXTBoston: Visits St. Louis on Saturday.Vegas: Hosts Winnipeg on Friday night. GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Boston Bruins have a short turnaround between games before they play the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday, and they’re no doubt hoping that doesn’t make for a long night at Gila River Arena.Right now, the Bruins are playing very short-handed. And the Coyotes are playing short-handed like no other NHL team in 30 years.The Coyotes (9-8-1) have lost four of six games , but they’ve won five of their last six on home ice. Short-handed goals are a major reason for that — they have an NHL-leading 10 of them, or more than double any other team. Michael Grabner has four short-handed goals himself, and Brad Richardson has three.Article continues below ...The last team to have at least 10 short-handed goals through their first 18 games was the Edmonton Oilers, who had 11 in 1988-89. The Flyers also had 11 in 1973-74 and the St. Louis Blues had 10 in 1975-76.The Coyotes have more short-handed goals than they have power-play goals (9).“It’s incredible all the shorties we’ve had,” goaltender Darcy Kuemper.The Bruins (10-6-3) must think it’s incredible how many injuries they’ve had.They’re so depleted along the blue line, they called up not one but two defensemen in Jakob Zboril and Connor Clifton to make their NHL debuts as they lost 1-0 to the Dallas Stars in overtime Friday night. Their current top-pairing defenseman, Matt Grzelcyk, was their No. 7 defenseman to begin the season.“It’s the National Hockey League, you can either play in it or you can’t, and we’ll find out with some of these guys,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said Friday. “Sometimes this is the best way to find out, that’s the positive in it. The negative is we’ve got a lot of good players out of the lineup back there.”Among the defensemen currently out is Zdeno Chara, who was sent back to Boston for testing following a 6-3 loss at the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.“No, not this many at the same time ,” Cassidy said when asked if he’s seen a team go through something like this. “Clearly you lose guys through the course of the year, five or six, but not at the same time.”Now, the Bruins must play a back-to-back on the road when they’re far from full strength.“It will be a challenge, no doubt,” Cassidy said.Tuukka Rask made 36 saves Friday but gave up Jason Dickinson’s game-winning goal off a rebound 1:34 into overtime. The Bruins couldn’t get any of their 23 shots past Stars goalie Ben Bishop.The injuries are mounting up, too, for the Coyotes, who apparently lost top-pair defenseman Jason Demers to a season-ending lower-body injury in the final minute of their 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Demers scored his first goal of the season in that game.Defensemen Jakob Chychrun, who has played only one game, and Alex Goligoski also are out, so the Coyotes called up Dakota Mermis and Robbie Russo from Tucson IAHL) to replace them.“This is what happens in terms of having depth on the blue line,” coach Rick Tocchet said Friday. “You get tested. These are the times of the year when you’re getting tested with injuries.”Jaroslav Halak is expected to be in goal for Boston. He took the loss Wednesday at Colorado, giving up six goals on 25 shots , but is 2-2 with a 2.16 goals-against average this season. In his career, Halak is 8-3-2 with a 2.08 goals-average and a .927 save percentage against Arizona.The Coyotes are expected to give Kuemper his seventh consecutive start in place of the injured Antti Raanta, who could be returning soon. Kuemper made a career-high 44 saves against Nashville and is 4-4-1 with a 2.77 goals-against average.Kuemper lost his two previous starts against the Bruins, allowing six goals on 46 shots (3.04 goals-against average).The Coyotes’ short-handed success is one reason why they’ve made a significant turnaround from last season, when they were 2-13-3 through 18 games. They didn’t win their ninth game then until Dec. 27, in game 39.“The guys (are) working so hard, giving them a lot of pressure and not letting them set up and make the plays they want. I think that’s why we’ve had the success we’ve had,” Kuemper said of the Coyotes’ penalty-killing unit.

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]