Boston, MA – Brad Marchand scored twice to give the Boston Bruins a 6-2 thumping of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Andrew Ference and Rich Peverley each posted a goal and an assist while Nathan Horton and Jordan Caron also scored for the Bruins, who have won four of their past five. Tuukka Rask made 40 saves.
Boston sits comfortably in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 54 points and now trails the Montreal Canadiens by a point for first place in the Northeast Division and second in the conference.
"Tuukka really played a great game for us tonight," said Boston head coach Claude Julien. "He really made some great saves on some of the mistakes we made and they could have done a lot of damage."
Carolina, meanwhile, has fallen out of the playoff chase as the team is just 1-11-1 since a win at Washington on March 12 which saw the team sitting in first place in the Southeast Division. With 34 points, Carolina is eight back of the Islanders for the final playoff spot with several teams in front of them and just 10 games to play.
Patrick Dwyer and Drayson Bowman each scored for the Hurricanes, who saw starting goaltender Justin Peters pulled eight minutes in after giving up two goals on four shots. Dan Ellis gave up four goals on 32 shots the rest of the way.
"We have to be better in sticking with plays," said Carolina forward Jeff Skinner. "Things just haven't gone our way the past two games because we're getting a lot of shots on net, but not getting it in."
Boston scored just 3:51 in when Peverley fired a shot from the right wing that was stopped, but he grabbed the rebound behind the net and wrapped it in from the left side.
It was 2-0 just four minutes later, as Greg Campbell tried a wraparound from the left side. The puck sat on the doorstep before Marchand banged it in, prompting a goaltending change.
The change didn't help much, though, as Marchand scored again with 2:40 to play in the first after burying a loose puck from the left circle for a 3-0 advantage.
Just 3:57 into the second, Dennis Seidenberg fired a shot from the left point that was tipped in by Ference and Caron scored his first of the year at the 10:29 mark of the middle period with a backhand in front for a 5-0 advantage.
Carolina tried to mount a comeback in the third when Dwyer and Bowman scored 45 seconds apart just past the midway point of the period, but Horton's tip-in with 3:04 to play put the nail in the coffin.
Game Notes
It was a season-high in goals for the Bruins ... Boston has won both matchups with Carolina this season and the clubs have one more game in Carolina on April 13 ... Boston plays in New Jersey on Wednesday ... Carolina hosts Pittsburgh on Tuesday ... Seidenberg had three assists in the game.
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