The Bruins tied the game with 1:45 left in regulation on a 6-on-5 David Pastrnak goal, then Charlie McAvoy got the winning goal in the ninth round of the shootout for a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars.

The B’s needed that one, and they had to grind to get it.

In the shootout, the B’’s were on the verge of elimination when Brad Marchand kept it alive with a wrister past Jake Oettinger. Finally, after McAvoy scored on a backhander, former Bruin Craig Smith’s backhander got past Jeremy Swayman but it didn’t make it over the goal line.

The B’s finished their home stand with a 2-3-2 record. There was some concern.The B’s lost Hampus Lindholm on what looked like a leg injury in the third period and he didn’t come back

The Bruins started the game by going with an all-Providence fourth line that included new call-up/signee Justin Brazeau, Antony Richard and Jesper Boqvist.

The line didn’t score on that first shift, but they didn’t wait long to get on the board. On the prettiest play of the underwhelming homestand. Charlie McAvoy connected with Richard with a crisp diagonal pass at the left side of the Dallas blue line and Richard hit Boqvist cutting through the slot. Boqvist made a sharp move to his forehand to beat Jake Oettinger at 4:01.

But the undermanned Stars (no Miro Heiskanen, Matt Duchene or Jani Kakanpaa, to name just a few missing players) came back to tie it. Thomas Harley grabbed a loose puck along the right boards and flipped it toward the net. Wyatt Johnston had position on Kevin Shattenkirk and he tipped it past Jeremy Swayman to tie it up.

With frustration mounting and the period was coming to a close, captain Brad Marchand took exception to a couple of checks from Joel Hanley and dropped the gloves with Star defenseman. There were no big shots thrown, but Marchand revved up the crowd by scoring a take-down.

But with less than a minute left in the period, the impact was minimal and, at 1:04 of the second period, Ryan Suter gave the Stars a 2-1 lead when his seeing-eye shot got past Swayman, who appeared to be screened.

The B’s scratched right back to tied it just 28 seconds later on Brazeau’s first career NHL goal.. After Trent Frederic knocked a puck loose along the left boards, Boqvist controlled it and fed Brazeau out front for a low slot one-timer.

But the B’s were having a hard time maintaining pressure in the offensive zone. The Stars outshot the B’s 22-12 in the second period, with most of the Dallas shots coming from the perimeter.

The B’s did come up with a good penalty kill late in the second and Marchand earned a power play with 12 seconds left in the period. They couldn’t cash in on the fresh ice to start the third period with most of the PP time still on the clock.

Midway through the third period, the B’s issues with decision-making cost them. The struggling Derek Forbort was caught down low in the offensive zone, Marchand didn’t rotate out high and the Stars broke out on 2-on-1. Esa Lindell kept it and beat Swayman over the blocker on the far-side shot at 10:44.

But coach Jim Montgomery pulled Swayman for the extra skater with 2:10, the B’s tied it up with 1:45 left in regulation. McAvoy walked down the slot and had what looked like a great shooting angle, but he made a terrific no-look pass to David Pastrnak on the left wing and blasted a one-timer past Oettinger.