David Pastrnak had a three-point game Saturday afternoon as the Bruins improved to a 18-5-3 record.
The Boston Bruins leaned on their depth while short-handed and strung together a 5-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.
Skating without Charlie McAvoy and Derek Forbort – and losing Pavel Zacha to an upper-body injury after the first period – the B’s never let the game get away from them and convincingly closed out the victory.
David Pastrnak had a three-point game with two goals and one assist, and Linus Ullmark made 31 saves on 34 shots to help Boston improve to a 18-5-3 record.
“I loved the effort. I thought our second and third effort was really good, I thought we had some great blocks,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Obviously, Linus [Ullamrk] was fantastic – and he needed to be – we gave up too much. And ‘Pasta’ was fantastic.”
Matt Poitras was back centering the third line with Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen after sitting out of Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres as part of the team’s new plan to implement rest days into the rookie’s schedule.
Poitras logged just 8:26 of total ice time – his least of the season – and was benched for a majority of the third while the Bruins were down a center in Zacha. Montgomery said they’ll know more about the extent of Zacha’s injury Monday.
Montgomery cited Poitras’ game management as a reason for the shortened minutes. Trent Frederic and Morgan Geekie ended up sliding over to the pivot position at times to fill the hole while the lines shuffled.
“Valuing game management is something that we’ve talked to him about and is still lacking in his game right now,” Montgomery said. “We’re paid to win hockey games and I’m gonna go with the guys that I think are gonna win us hockey games.”
After another slow start in the first period, Pastrnak breathed life into the Bruins at 15:22 and put them up 1-0 thanks to an extra-effort play along the boards. Pastrnak stripped Arizona defenseman Juuso Valimaki of the puck in the corner, circled behind the net and roofed it past netminder Connor Ingram from the left side for his 15th goal of the season.
“Unreal. Goes in, wins a battle. When your best players win battles, it becomes contagious,” Montgomery said. “If you have the second and third effort, you find ways to have success. It’s amazing what effort overcomes.”
Charlie Coyle doubled the B’s advantage just 48 seconds later off a slick feed from Frederic. Stationed sturdily in front of the crease, Coyle knocked in Frederic’s dish from below the left circle at 16:10, marking his 10th tuck of the year. That second line of James van Riemsdyk, Coyle and Frederic was buzzing all game and was key to the B’s resurgence in the last eight minutes of the opening frame.
“There was a stick there, but [Frederic] still made a great pass. I honestly didn’t do much with it, I just tried to keep my stick there and he made the play happen,” Coyle said.
The Bruins got on the power play early in the second period with Coyotes defenseman Sean Durzi in the box for hooking. Kevin Shattenkirk buried his second goal in four games on the man advantage off a sauce from Pastrnak, lifting the B’s to a 3-0 lead at 2:02.
“It’s talented players making me look good. Just kind of following my instincts on that and knowing that [Pastrnak] can make that play,” Shattenkirk said.
Arizona had a prompt response, though, and scored two goals in 32 seconds to pull within one. Clayton Keller ripped one from the left circle to get his team on the board at 2:50, and a Michael Carcone snipe at 3:22 made it 3-2.
“I think that we just maybe got caught up in thinking the game was gonna be a little bit of a runaway and got a little loose there,” Shattenkirk said. “I thought we regrouped really well. We stuck with it, got back to our game plan and got that fourth and fifth goal at the right time.”
Poitras, who turned the puck over in the neutral zone on Carcone’s goal, then forced a Coyote turnover that resulted in a Bruins tally. Poitras won a puck battle along the boards in front of the Boston bench, and pushed the rubber up to Heinen who wired it past Ingram for the 4-2 advantage at 9:12.
Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse scored early in the third period, reaching around Hampus Lindholm for the slot shot, and cut the deficit to 4-3 at 3:18. But, a Pastrnak insurance goal at 14:29 sealed the 5-3 win for the Bruins. Pastrnak wrapped the rebound of a Geekie shot around Ingram’s left pad and in at 14:29 for his second goal of the game.
The Bruins will be off Sunday and get back to practice Monday before taking on the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night on the road.