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Bruins rout Avalanche in Denver

Jan 22, 2011 - 11:38 PM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Brad Marchand tallied two goals and two assists while Milan Lucic lit the lamp twice in Boston's 6-2 win over Colorado at Pepsi Center.

Patrice Bergeron posted a goal and two assists for the Bruins, who have won six of their last eight. Mark Recchi added a goal and an assist for the victors.

Tim Thomas made 32 saves for his fifth straight win between the pipes.

"We played well all day and we forced them to work for whatever they got," Thomas said.

Kevin Shattenkirk registered a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who have dropped two straight and fell to 1-2 on their five-game homestand. Paul Stastny tallied a goal in the loss.

Craig Anderson surrendered four goals on 28 shots in two periods for the Avs, while Peter Budaj started the third period and yielded a goal on 11 shots.

The Avs drew first blood off an offensive faceoff draw two minutes into the game. The puck was dropped off to Shattenkirk from the right point where he ripped a shot that traveled through heavy traffic in the slot.

After getting deflected by several players, the disc fluttered past Thomas and dribbled across the goal line. Stastny, who was at the top of the crease, was credited with the goal.

Lucky bounces became a theme of the game when Boston knotted the score nearing the midway point of the first period. Recchi charged down the right boards and fired a cross-ice pass to Marchand, who got a piece of the disc but it was eventually deflected into the net off a Colorado skate.

The Bruins took a 2-1 lead on the power play with eight minutes left in the first. Again, Boston capitalized on a funny bounce.

This time the puck caromed off the back boards and Lucic was at the doorstep to bang it home for his 18th goal of the season.

Boston tallied a crucial goal to go up 3-1 with 5:16 left in the second period. On a 2-on-1 rush, Marchand's slight hitch made Anderson over-commit. He then sent a pass across the slot to Recchi, who tipped the puck into the wide-open net.

With 54 seconds left in the second period, Lucic notched his second goal of the game on another odd-man rush. David Krejci fed Lucic in the left shot and he was able to chip it over the glove hand of Anderson for a commanding 4-1 lead.

"Those 2-on-1 advantages were huge and I'm glad we were able to take advantage of those," Recchi said.

Budaj started the third period for the Avs and they scored just 1:41 in thanks to Shattenkirk's backhand shot from the right slot, making it a 4-2 game.

The margin went back to three, 5-2, at the midway point of the final frame. Bergeron, from his knees, backhanded a shot from the slot to the far side of the net. A lucky bounce played a role, yet again, as the puck was tipped off the skate of Colorado's John-Michael Liles and into the net.

"We created our own mistakes tonight," Liles said. "We hung [Anderson] out to dry. It's good to get a wake up call sometimes."

Marchand added an empty-netter with 1:35 left in the game to make up the final score.

Game Notes

Colorado is 13-10-3 as the host on the season...Stastny scored the 100th goal of his NHL career and was the 19th player in franchise history to do so...Recchi has seven assists in last seven games...Boston's Marc Savard left the game after getting hit into the corner boards 3 1/2 minutes into the second. He was bleeding from the face and did not return...Thomas is 8-0-3 in his last 11 games...Liles had a minus-4 rating in the game...Boston has won four out of five in Denver...Krejci had two assists.