Pastrnak records hat trick, Bruins burn Leafs 5-1 in Boston

David Pastrnak recorded the third hat trick of his career as the Boston Bruins withstood an early storm from the Toronto Maple Leafs and whipped their division rivals to the tune of a 5-1 win at TD Garden on Saturday.

Bruins starting goalie Jaroslav Halak had a great bounce-back effort after Thursday night's clunker against the Vancouver Canucks, stopping 40 of 41 Toronto shots. Twenty of those shots came in the first period alone, as Halak stopped a 15-shot barrage in the opening nine minutes and 20 seconds of the game. It was Boston who capitalized on its scoring chances in the opening frame, however, as Patrice Bergeron drew first blood with his ninth goal of the season when he redirected a centering pass from Pastrnak through Leafs goalie Garret Sparks.

The B's extended their lead to 3-0 by the halfway point of the second period with Pastrnak's first two goals of the game, first with a one-timer off a nifty cross-ice pass from Bergeron and then off a net-front feed from Brad Marchand on a power play.

Toronto gave itself life with a late-second-period goal by John Tavares to make it 3-1, but the Bruins were able to maintain their momentum into the third. Pastrnak cashed in on another power play with 5:56 remaining to complete the hat trick off a slick give-and-go with Marchand, then Joakim Nordstrom tacked on another goal just 26 seconds later for the cherry on top.

Pastrnak extended his league-leading goal total to 15 in the win. He's up to 21 points in 16 games, while Bergeron scored three points to move into a tie for the league scoring lead with Colorado's Mikko Rantanen with 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists). Marchand's two assists jumped him into a tie for seventh in that category.

It'll be a quick turnaround for the B's, who get to stay at home and host the defending Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

Click here for all Bruins content, including news, podcasts, feature stories, and more.