David Pastrnak's 16th NHL hat trick lifted the Boston Bruins to a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche. The win extended Boston's point streak to seven games.
BOSTON -- For the Boston Bruins, it started and ended with David Pastrnak, who scored 44 seconds into the game and twice more in the final 2:36 to record his 16th career hat trick as the Bruins defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-2.
“Coming into [the] third, we definitely turned things around [and] played more like [we did] in the first period, so that was huge,” Pastrnak said. “Obviously, we got the power-play [goal] late there and got the insurance goal, so I think that was huge. So overall, I think definitely the bounce back from the second to third, that’s what stands out to me.”
Jeremy Swayman made 32 saves in his fourth start in a row as the Bruins extended their point streak to seven games (4-0-3) and improved to 27-8-9 on the season. Jake DeBrusk recorded a goal and an assist. Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle each had two assists, and Jakub Lauko scored his first goal of the season in his 32nd game.
“I don’t know if it’s a statement game. I just like the way our game is building,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “You can see the confidence throughout the lineup with how we’re playing with the puck.”
Pastrnak and Lauko gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead within the first five minutes, but the Avalanche started to claw back. Miles Wood whacked the puck in on Swayman at a tight angle at 7:32 of the first period to cut it to 2-1, and after DeBrusk pushed it to 3-1 on a tip-in from Parker Wotherspoon at 14:52, Nathan MacKinnon cut it back to a one-goal game at 16:20 of the second period by poking in a loose puck that had slipped under Swayman's leg.
In the past, Boston has struggled to hang on to one-goal leads in the third period, but they held on, only allowing four shots on goal in the final frame.
Pastrnak added his second goal on the power play to make it 4-2 with 2:36 left in regulation. DeBrusk threaded the needle to Pastrnak, who had plenty of room at the back door to beat Colorado goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
“At that time I was in the slot, and I just wanted to threaten a shot,” DeBrusk said. “I knew ‘Pasta’ was there, so I tried not to stare at it and have them maybe defend it.”
Pastrnak completed his hat trick and secured the 5-2 win with an empty-netter at 19:34 of the third.
“We play with the lead a lot in the third period, so teams [are going to] come back,” Pastrnak said. “They’re [going to] get their push and they get their chances. … So good for us that we were able to finish the game and get the insurance goal today.”
With the win, the Bruins are back atop the NHL standings with 63 points, pending the result of the Vancouver Canucks' (62 points) matchup with the Arizona Coyotes.