3 Stars: David Pastrnak continues to put up video game numbers for Bruins

The Bruins made sure that a late-January wait until the first Bruins-Canadiens season was worth the wait, as the Bruins’ clutch third-period play came to the table to push the Black and Gold’s current run to six straight victories.

Led by goals from four different scorers, the Bruins made sure that a strong outing by Canadiens netminder Sam Montembeault (25 saves) fell by the wayside for Montreal head coach Marty St. Louis.

At the other end of the rink, Jeremy Swayman reminded from some iffy rebound control that ended up in the back of his net, and finished with 20 saves for his seventh win in his last nine starts.

And with the victory, the Bruins pushed their win streak over the rebuilding Canadiens to eight games, with their last loss to the Canadiens coming back on Nov. 5, 2019.

Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars of the game from a win in Montreal…

• No. 3 Star: Kirby Dach

  

  Jan 24, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach (77) plays the puck and Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo (25) defends during the second period at the Bell Centre. (Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports)

• Call him Kirby on the spot.

  In a night that saw the Canadiens pot two on Swayman, it was Kirby Dach who was credited with both tallies, and with both coming with Dach in the right spot at the right time for the rebound putaways.

  Dach’s second goal actually set a new career-high for the ex-Blackhawk, too, giving him 10 goals on the year. It’s a change of scenary that’s certainly worked out for the Habs, too, with Dach up to 10 goals and 31 points in 48 games with the Canadiens. He arrived to Montreal with 59 points in 152 career NHL games.

  On the ice for a team-high 23:59, Dach also led all Montreal forwards with three blocked shots, and went 8-for-13 at the faceoff dot. Dach’s 23:59 of time on ice in the losing effort was actually the fourth-most any forward has played against the Bruins this season, trailing only the Sens’ Tim Stutzle (24:08 on Dec. 27), Sidney Crosby (25:04 on Nov. 1), and Bryan Rust (26:06 in the 2023 Winter Classic at Fenway Park).

• No. 2 Star: Patrice Bergeron

  

  Jan 24, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron (37) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period at the Bell Centre. (Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports)

• This was a straight-up bizarre start for Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron.

  Particularly at the faceoff dot, where Bergeron went 0-for-8 in the opening 20 minutes of play.

  So, naturally, how does Bergeron ‘make up’ for it? By winning 10 of the next 15 faceoffs, including two that led directly to Boston goals, including his game-winning goal, in a comeback win.

• Who else but The Cap? © pic.twitter.com/Sv24rBI58m

  — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 25, 2023

• The Bruins also dominated the puck with Bergeron out there at five-on-five play, as they doubled up the Canadiens 14-7 on shot attempts and shots (8-4) in Bergeron’s 13 minutes and change of five-on-five play.

  Bergeron also became just the third active player to record at least 60 points against the Canadiens in his career, joining a list headlined by Alex Ovechkin’s 63 points and Phil Kessel’s 61 points.

  (A reminder: Bergeron, who will always remind that he’s from Quebec City and not Montreal, has no love for the Habs. Just in case you were silly enough to buy that fiction that was peddled about last spring.)

• No. 1 Star: David Pastrnak

  

  Jan 24, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak (88) during the second period of the game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. (Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports)

• A sign that you have an absolute superstar on your hands? When that star, Bruins winger David Pastrnak in this case, has the ability to turn what looks like an ‘off night’ into a multi-point night in the blink of an eye.

  And, boy, did Pastrnak do that, with No. 88 having a direct hand in all four of Boston’s goals with a one-goal, three-assist performance in just under 18 minutes of action.

• Some Pasta to top it off. 🍝 pic.twitter.com/BOulEXnuCB

  — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 25, 2023

• The four-point outing was Pastrnak’s third four-point outing of the season, and his second in his last eight games. It was also good for his 21st multi-point effort of the season that’s seen him in action for 47 games to date, meaning that Pastrnak has recorded at least two points in 45 percent of his appearances this year.

  That’s just bananas.

  Pastrnak is also up to 69 points through 47 games this season, putting him behind Connor McDavid’s 88 points and Leon Draisaitl’s 73 points for the most in the NHL. That start through the opening half and change of the season also has Pastrnak paced for what would be a 65-goal and 120-point season for the Bruins.

  Video game stuff.