Nurse, Oilers end Bruins winning streak at 10

BOSTON -- Darnell Nurse broke a tie late in the third period, and the Edmonton Oilers ended the Boston Bruins' 10-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory at TD Garden on Thursday.

Nurse scored with a shot from the left point through traffic at 15:11.
"We've got confidence in our group," Nurse said. "I think we said it this morning that we can play with anyone in this league, but it's one thing to say it. It's [another] to go out there and do it, and we did tonight. I think, obviously, we had some huge saves, some big commitments to defense -- only giving up two (goals) -- and capitalizing on our opportunities."
Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod scored, and Stuart Skinner made 26 saves for Edmonton (36-22-8), which has won four of its past five games. It is tied with the Seattle Kraken for third in the Pacific Division and the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"I don't think we gave up a ton tonight; neither team," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "There wasn't a lot of space out there. [It] felt like a playoff game, but you've got to fight for your ice out there, including goaltenders have to fight for their ice, and I thought [Skinner] made a couple big saves down the stretch and gave us a chance to win the game."

David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Jeremy Swayman made 19 saves for Boston (49-9-5), which leads the Toronto Maple Leafs by 17 points for first place in the Atlantic Division.
"I thought the Oilers were the better team," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "They were good; we weren't good enough. I thought they outplayed us, outworked us and outcoached us. … After the first period, we said, 'We're lucky to be up 2-0.'"
Brad Marchand gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 3:51 of the first, slipping the puck between Skinner's legs from the left face-off dot on Boston's first shot of the game.
"Every single game, I've gotten scored on at least once this year," Skinner said. "So, I think having that experience of getting scored on in the NHL -- I mean, the fans go loud, especially here at [TD] Garden -- and just being able to reset like how I always do, and I thought I did a good job doing that."
Boston center David Krejci had a power-play goal overturned at 13:17 after Edmonton challenged for offside.
Pastrnak made it 2-0 with one second left in the period, falling to his back as he shot a one-timer from above the right circle.
"What I recognized is [the Oilers are] really big on [offensive] zone possession," Pastrnak said. "They kind of want to tire you [out] in the [offensive] zone, and just skating around with the puck. It obviously [stinks] for [a] defensive team to be just, you know, running around, but at the same time, you can play it smart, and just kind of stay in the house and wait for them to come to you."

Bouchard cut it to 2-1 at 10:44 of the second period. Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk slipped with the puck in the offensive zone, leading to a 3-on-1 rush for the Oilers. Mattias Janmark fed Bouchard, who scored from the top of the slot.
"I actually thought we had a good second [period]," Marchand said. "We kind of controlled the play in the second. They got a goal on a lucky play there, and then in the third we just didn't play our game at all. The goals we got, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot, so [it's] uncharacteristic of us, but you know, one we can learn from."
McLeod tied it 2-2 at 6:08 of the third period, scoring through the five-hole off a pass by Devin Shore from along the goal line.
"You know what Boston is going to bring every single night, especially in their own building," Skinner said. "So, being able to steal two points is huge, and you know what? They stole two points in our building too (a 3-2 Bruins win Feb. 27). So, a little bit of revenge there, but I think we still have another gear to take here."
NOTES:Oilers center Connor McDavid had an 11-game point streak end. He had 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) during the streak. … Marchand scored his 20th goal of the season, the 12th time in his NHL career he's reached the mark. He trails Johnny Bucyk (16) and Patrice Bergeron (14) for the most 20-goal seasons in Bruins history. … Boston missed an opportunity to become the fastest NHL team to reach 50 wins in a season. Its next chance comes Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings in its 64th game. The record is 66 games, held by the 1995-96 Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.