NHL: Boston 6, Dallas 3

BOSTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Patrice Bergeron scored two of Boston's four first-period goals Thursday and the Bruins went on to defeat Dallas 6-3 in a game that began with three fights.

Boston's Gregory Campbell and the Stars' Steve Ott began swinging at each other the second the puck was dropped to start the game.

Once order was restored, it took only one more second of action before Shawn Thornton of Boston and Krys Barch of Dallas began fighting. A third battle broke out between Adam McQuaid of the Bruins and Brian Sutherby of the Stars at the 4-second mark.

Eight fighting penalties were handed out in the first period.

Milan Lucic opened the scoring before Bergeron produced his two goals and Thornton added a goal with 3:59 to play in the first period, giving the Bruins a 4-0 lead.

Dallas eventually cut the deficit to 4-3 before Tyler Seguin gave Boston a two-goal lead 5:31 into the third. Brad Marchand added an empty-netter with 2:20 to play.

Boston won its third straight, with Tuukka Rask making 30 saves.

Andrew Raycroft allowed two goals on the first two shots he saw before being replaced by Kari Lehtonen.