RALEIGH, North Carolina — Left winger Matt Beleskey scored two goals and the Boston Bruins added to their road success by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Friday night at PNC Arena.
Goalie Tuukka Rask made 39 saves for the Bruins, who have won three of their past four games.
Center Patrice Bergeron and Beleskey scored 2:12 apart in the first period. Beleskey responded to Carolina’s goal, restoring the two-goal cushion with a third-period score. Center Brad Marchand added an empty-netter with 13 seconds to play.
The Bruins (34-22-6) improved to 22-7-3 in road games.
Carolina’s goal came from Boston native Noah Hanifin, a rookie defenseman who scored three minutes into the third period.
Goalie Cam Ward stopped 18 shots for the Hurricanes. Ward was 3-0-2 in his first five starts this month, but since then he’s 2-3-0.
The Hurricanes (28-25-10) have lost three of their last four games, scoring a total of seven goals during that stretch.
Hanifin’s power-play goal came in the first of three meetings between the teams this season. It was an unusual goal, with his blast from near the blue line caroming off the boards behind the net and the puck hitting at least one player near the crease before ending up in the net.
Otherwise, Rask had a number of clutch saves, including handling defenseman Brad Pesce’s rocket late in the second period.
Rask improved to 7-3-1 all time against Carolina.
The Bruins opened the scoring when Bergeron was rewarded when his shot from the right side resulted in a goal. It came after the Hurricanes failed to clear the puck.
Of Bergeron’s 23 goals this season, his last six are in road games.
Beleskey’s goal came when he retrieved his own pass off the boards as he bolted down the left side. He flung a tough-angle shot toward the net, with the puck bouncing off the far post and going in, giving him his fourth goal in a four-game span.
Beleskey’s second goal came less than 3 1/2 minutes after the Carolina goal. He has two two-goal games in the past three outings.
NOTES: Bruins C Patrice Bergeron played in his 800th career NHL game, all with the Bruins. … Hurricanes C Andrej Nestrasil suffered a back injury Thursday night at the Toronto, ending up in the hospital amid reports that he might be out for the rest of the season. … C Brad Malone of the Hurricanes cleared waivers then ended up in Friday’s lineup. … LW Nathan Gerbe was in the Carolina lineup for the first time in eight games. … Fathers of Bruins players were on the trip, marking the second time in less than a week that a visiting team in Carolina had an organized outing for fathers. … The Bruins played their only road game during a seven-game span. They are back home for Sunday’s visit from the Tampa Bay Lightning. … The Hurricanes stay home for Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
Lightning 4, Devils 0
NEWARK, N.J. — Center Steven Stamkos and left winger Ondrej Palat each scored a goal and had an assist to lead the surging Tampa Bay Lighting to a 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Friday night.
Right winger Ryan Callahan recorded two assists, while left winger Alex Killorn and defenseman Matt Carle added goals for Tampa Bay, which has won five straight and improved to 35-22-4.
Goaltender Ben Bishop made 18 saves to record his third shutout of the season.
The Devils dropped to 30-26-7 with their second straight loss, and fifth in their last six overall.
Under siege for much of the game, Devils goaltender Cory Schneider stopped 31 of 35 shots.
The reigning Eastern Conference champions went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead on the strength of Killorn’s 11th of the season at 15:36. Essentially, Killorn had a half empty net to shoot at as the Devils were consumed with Stamkos in front.
Palat converted New Jersey right winger Lee Stempniak’s defensive zone turnover into his seventh of the year to double Tampa’s lead to 2-0 at 13:02. Then, 5 minutes, 52 seconds later, Stamkos pushed the advantage to 3-0 with his 27th of the season by redirecting a point shot from defenseman Anton Stralman.
All three of Tampa Bay’s goals were scored at even strength. The Lightning were unable to convert on any of their six power plays, but did kill New Jersey’s only man advantage.
Carle scored the only goal of the third period, his second of the season, to cap the scoring.