Pastrnak lifts Bruins past slumping Canucks

BOSTON --David Pastrnak broke a tie late in the third period to help the Boston Bruins defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 at TD Garden on Sunday.

Pastrnak scored on the power play off a cross-crease pass from Brad Marchand at 16:36.
Marchand had a power-play goal and an assist, and Patrice Bergeron had two assists for Boston (11-7-0). Linus Ullmark made 36 saves.
"We want to be a team that knows how to win in different situations," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It's not easy to win in this league. I don't care who you're playing. You need things to go your way, and you need to be at your best. … It's a full team effort for us. … It was good for those top guys on the power play [to score]. They're the guys we rely on."
Conor Garland and Tanner Pearson scored for Vancouver (6-14-2), which has lost four in a row and nine of 10 (1-8-1). Jaroslav Halak made 39 saves in his first game against the Bruins since signing with the Canucks as a free agent in the offseason after playing the past three seasons for Boston.
"It's a tough game to lose. It magnifies the way things are going," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "There was a lot of good effort tonight. It was a heavy, hard-fought game. In the end, their top guys found a way to get it done. … We want to win badly. You can feel the disappointment at the end of the game."
Pearson gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead on the power play at 3:33 of the first period. Ullmark made the save on Brock Boeser's redirection in front of the crease, but Pearson scored on the rebound.
"We're not going to get ourselves out of this by being fancy," Pearson said. "We've got to get gritty and score a few goals like that. It's definitely tough [to lose]. … Going into the third with a lead. That's one we need to have. … To lose that one to a special-teams battle in the third period, it doesn't feel good."

Anton Blidh tied it 1-1 with his first of the season at 5:51, scoring on the rush from above the left face-off circle.
After his goal at 17:23 was overturned when Cassidy challenged for offside, Garland put the Canucks in front 2-1 at 12:31 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left circle.
Marchand tied it 2-2 at 8:45 of the third. Pastrnak's one-timer hit the post before Marchand found the loose puck after a scramble in front.
"I thought Pastrnak scored, so I kind of stopped playing for a second," Marchand said. "Then I saw [Bruins forward Nick Foligno] whacking away at it, and Bergeron. So I just tried to get close to it, and it was a very fortunate bounce to come out. It was nice to put that one away."
Blidh left the game at 15:23 of the third after being hit from behind by Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson four seconds earlier. Ekman-Larsson was called for boarding, and Pastrnak scored on the ensuing power play.
"No concussion or anything like that, but he hurt his upper body around his [shoulder]," Cassidy said of Blidh. "We'll reevaluate tomorrow. He's sore right now. He may miss time. He may not. That's something we'll have to look at."
NOTES: Bergeron ranks sixth in Bruins history with 219 multipoint games, and Marchand is ninth with 185. … Boston was 2-for-3 on the power play; Vancouver was 1-for-4.