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Boston Bruins

David Pastrnak crosses 40-goal mark as Bruins earn 3-1 home win over Senators

By Matt Dolloff

David Pastrnak scored twice to cross the 40-goal threshold on Monday afternoon, as the Boston Bruins grabbed a hard-fought 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators in a matinée at TD Garden. Pastrnak scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and an insurance score in the third, to power the Bruins to victory.

After playing most of the first period to a scoreless stalemate, with scoring chances and strong goaltending at both ends of the ice, Jake DeBrusk broke the scoreless tie with his 18th of the season off a rebound. DeBrusk collected the puck off a tenacious forecheck and pass from Brad Marchand to create the scoring opportunity.

  • But the Bruins unfortunately could not hold the lead into the first intermission. An ill-advised breakout pass attempt by Matt Grzelcyk ended up on the stick of Sens forward Dylan Gambrell, who whacked the puck just enough to feed it to Claude Giroux for the deke and backhand through goaltender Linus Ullmark, tying the game 1-1.

  • Pastrnak’s 40th goal would not have been possible without a dazzling effort by Charlie McAvoy to fake a shot and spin away from an approaching defender, before making a tape-to-tape pass. Pastrnak did the rest by simply firing a close-range bullet over the far-side shoulder of Sens goalie Kevin Mandolese, giving the B’s a 2-1 lead late in the second.

    With the milestone, Pastrnak now has three 40-goal seasons, one of only five Bruins in franchise history to reach that mark at least three times. Phil Esposito holds the franchise record with seven such seasons. If all goes well in contract talks, Pastrnak will have a good chance to break that record.

  • Ullmark made 30 saves on 31 Ottawa shots, a few of which the “highlight reel” variety. His best stop came after Senators captain Brady Tkachuk delivered a punishing hit to the Bruins’ Hampus Lindholm and stole the puck for a centering feed – but Gambrell’s bid from the slot didn’t get past Ullmark’s glove.

  • Pastrnak later made it 3-1 with 7:50 to go in regulation after finishing a backhand through Mandolese on a breakaway. He was free to the goal because of another eye-popping play by McAvoy, but this one seemed to be mostly by accident. From one knee in his own zone, McAvoy whacked the puck straight up through the neutral zone. Pastrnak happened to be streaking across to take the pass and get behind everybody.

    “Pasta” is now just one goal behind Connor McDavid (42) for the NHL lead, positioning himself for a run at the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer. Pastrnak won the award in 2020, with 48 goals in 70 games, which to date is his career-best total. He’s now on pace to notch 60 tallies this season.

  • Up Next: The Bruins have their latest west coast road trip ahead of them after the brief homestand. They will head to Seattle for a road game on Thursday night against the Kraken, who beat them last time in Boston. Then they head to Vancouver for a game against the Canucks on Saturday, and a back-to-back in Edmonton and Calgary next Monday and Tuesday.

    Click here for complete Boston Bruins coverage at 985TheSportsHub.com.

    Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @realmattdolloff. Check out all of Matt’s content here.

NEXT: Bruins Have Found Their Focus For The Trade Deadline

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