Bruins Control Third Period; Overpower Blackhawks, 5-3

Boston's Wayne Cashman swooped around the Chicago net and fed Johnny Bucyk in the slot who slipped the puck under goalie Tony Esposito's pads giving the Bruins a second period lead that they never relinquished en route to a 5-3 romp over the Black Hawks last night in the Boston Garden.

Wide Open

Both teams played wide open hockey and the boisterous Garden crowd roared their opinion on each blistering shot or glittering save.

Terry O'Reilly opened the scoring with a sharp wrist shot at 3:45 of the first period. Ten minutes later, Jean Ratelle followed suit to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead, but Pit Martin responded for Chicago, taking a pass from Dennis Hull for a breakaway goal.

In the second period, Alain Daigle and Martin put the puck in the net within two minutes of each other to lift the Black Hawks into the lead. From that point on, the game was strictly for Bruins fans as they choked off the Chicago offense while firing in three goals themselves. Ratelle faked out Esposito and backhanded a shot into the cords at 16:51 of the second period and Bucyk scored one two minutes later. Cashman iced the win in the third stanza when he deflected a loose puck in.

Boston outshot the Black Hawks 38-18 in the game.