Luck of Irish helps elevate Bruins in Winter Classic

SOUTH BEND, IND. David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, Tuukka Rask made 36 saves and the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Tuesday in the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium.

Patrice Bergeron, Sean Kuraly and Brad Marchand also scored as Boston won for the second time in three appearances in the NHL’S annual outdoor game on New Year’s Day. The Bruins went 2-for-5 with the man advantage and killed off each of the Blackhawks’ four power plays.

The game was tied at 2-2 when Boston (22-14-4) caught a break in the third period, a little luck at the home of the Fighting Irish. Matt Grzelcyk’s big slap shot went off teammate Chris Wagner in front, but Kuraly beat Blackhawks defenceman Gustav Forsling to the rebound and backhanded the puck past Cam Ward at 10:20.

Backed by most of the sellout crowd of 76,126 in perfect conditions for outdoor hockey — the game-time temperature was 2 C and a grey, overcast sky took the sun out of the equation — Chicago pushed hard for the tying score in the closing minutes, but came up empty.

Jonathan Toews sent a shot off the post after the Blackhawks pulled Ward for an extra attacker with about 1:30 left. Marchand then added an empty-netter for his 13th of the season.

Chicago had won five of six, but it remained winless in an Nhl-high fourth appearance in the Winter Classic. It also dropped to 1-5 in six outdoor games, also tops in the league.

Brendan Perlini and Dominik Kahun scored for the Blackhawks (15-21-6) and Ward made 32 stops.

It was Perlini’s third goal in his past eight games. He had two goals in 22 games with Arizona before he was traded to Chicago on Nov. 25.