A.J. Greer logged two goals and an assist while Derek Forbort scored the go-ahead goal to lift the Boston Bruins to a 6-3 win over the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night.
The Bruins scored twice in the first period and three times in the third en route to their second straight win under new head coach Jim Montgomery.
Charlie Coyle, Nick Foligno and Pavel Zacha each had a goal and an assist for Boston.
Jeremy Swayman made 21 saves to win his first start of the season.
Forbort’s wrist shot from the left side put Boston ahead for good with 10:31 left in the third before Greer ripped home a long feed from Hampus Lindholm at 12:49.
Despite the win, Boston lost another defenseman, as Brandon Carlo didn’t return after sustaining an upper-body injury on a high hit by Liam O’Brien in the first period.
Clayton Keller, Josh Brown and Shayne Gostisbehere scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 37 stops for the Coyotes, who have lost their first two games.
The Bruins took an early lead at 4:03. After Foligno’s wrister rang off the post, Zacha picked up a rebound for his first goal in a Boston sweater.
Foligno logged his 500th NHL point with the primary assist on the power-play goal.
Coyle doubled Boston’s lead with 1:36 left in the opening frame, snapping a shot across the grain past Vejmelka’s blocker side. Greer caused a turnover in the neutral zone and fed Coyle, who rushed down the right wing.
After Swayman came up with three saves early in an Arizona power play, Keller pumped home a one-timer from the right circle to make it a 2-1 game at 6:21 of the second.
The Bruins re-established a two-goal lead at 14:03 as Foligno tipped home Connor Clifton’s point shot immediately following a failed clear.
Arizona landed just one shot on goal through the first 13:30 and three throughout the first period, but it had a dominant 14-6 edge in the second.
The Coyotes made it a one-goal game again 2:58 into the third as Brown slipped Nick Bjugstad’s backhand cross-crease pass past Swayman.
Zacha’s neutral-zone turnover led Gostisbehere on a game-tying, short-handed breakaway at the 5:42 mark.
–Field Level Media
