David Pastrnak's hat trick led Boston to a 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators' struggles in Boston continued on Tuesday night with a 6-2 loss to the Bruins. David Pastrnak led the way with a hat trick for the winners.
The differences between the two teams were both small and glaring all at once as the Bruins blew by the Senators in the third period en route to a 6-2 win. Boston proved why they're 37 points ahead in the standings.
The Senators outshot Boston 33-25, and yet Joonas Korpisalo was outdueled by Linus Ullmark.
The Senators were excellent for the first two periods like they were on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Ottawa played a controlled game, generated chances, kept the Bruins to the outside and limited their scoring chances. The Senators were outplaying the Bruins for much of the night. They outshot them in the early going 28-17 but couldn't solve a dialled-in Ullmark.
In the first period, there was nothing to separate the two teams...except David Pastrnak. Pastrnak scored two goals within a 2:56 minute stretch to give the Bruins the early lead. His second goal came after he intercepted a terrible Tim Stutzle pass, then went in all alone to beat Korpisalo.
The second period was a different story as the Senators gave Boston everything they had.
They didn't cash in on an early 5 on 3 opportunity – hitting the post twice – but they finally broke through later on, as Shane Pinto's power play goal cut the lead to 2-1. The Bruins earned a late power play and were able to capitalize with 1:09 left in the period, thanks to Justin Brazeau, who jammed the puck home to make it 3-1 Bruins.
It appeared to be déjà vu for the Senators who also gave up a late second period goal to the Hurricanes on Sunday, then fell flat on their face in the third period. Brady Tkachuk changed that narrative, burying his own rebound with 2 seconds left to cut the deficit to 3-2, and presumably giving the Senators momentum heading into the final frame.
However, despite Tkachuk’s best efforts, the Senators returned to Sunday's script and fell apart in the third period.
Pastrnak completed his hat-trick with a backhand goal, and along with all the hats, someone in the crowd threw a bear costume on the ice. And the night became comical for the Senators.
The game was delayed for five minutes as hats rained down, but it didn't delay the Bruins onslaught. 25 seconds later, Jesper Boqvist knifed through the Senators defence to score and effectively finish off the Senators.
Boston completed the third period beat down with a late power play goal from Brazeau, who tripled his career goal scoring total (3) to finish off a 6-2 Bruins win.
The Senators were right there with the Bruins until Boston's maturity, ability to capitalize and ride the momentum saw them through to victory.
The Senators learned again they can compete for long stretches against great teams but also learned how far away they are from putting together a consistent 60 minute performance the way teams like the Boston Bruins do.
"We just need better performances out of certain players," head coach Jacques Martin told TSN 1200 radio after the game. "I thought we had a good effort from certain guys, but other guys have to be better."
The Senators return to action on Thursday against the St.Louis Blues at the Canadian Tire Centre.