3 Stars: Charlie McAvoy shines in blowout win

The Bruins are on fiiiiiiii-yah.

I mean, there’s just no other way to describe it at this point. Stupid spelling of ‘fire’ and all. With 16 wins in 18 games, the Bruins sit atop the league standings, and Saturday’s downright demolition of the visiting Blackhawks pushed the Bruins to a perfect 11-0-0 on Garden ice through the first month and change of the new campaign.

That’s tied with last year’s Panthers and the 1963-64 Blackhawks for the longest home winning streak to begin a season in the entire history of the National Hockey League. When you’re tying records of a league that’s been around for over a hundred years, that’s tyyyyypically a good sign for your team.

Saturday’s win was yet another ‘team’ win for the Bruins, too, as 11 different players had at least a point to their name by the end of their six-goal barrage on the Blackhawks’ Petr Mrazek, while Jeremy Swayman made his triumphant return to the Black and Gold’s crease with a 17-of-18 performance.

But who helped steal the show in another victory for the Bruins?

Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars of the game from a record-tying victory at TDG…

No. 3 Star: David Pastrnak

Nov 7, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) gets set for a face-off during the first period against the St. Louis Blues at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

This game’s goal bonanza from the Boston sticks began in the first period, and with a power-play strike from David Pastrnak in what ultimately finished as a two-goal night for No. 88.

Pastrnak’s power-play goal was a fitting capper to a sequence that saw him come through with countless near-goals and nifty puck movement, and broke him out of a three-game goalless skid (that’s an awful long time given Pastrnak’s skillset and obvious otherworldly skill as an NHL goal scorer).

I honestly loved Pastrnak’s second goal especially, as he simply coasted and had more than enough time and space to patiently hammer a feed from Nick Foligno through a helpless Mrazek to make it 5-1.

Out there for 19:54 of time on ice, Pastrnak also paced the Bruins with seven shots on goal in what finished as a 43-shot performance on Mrazek from the Black and Gold.

Pastrnak, still without a contract beyond this season, is now up to 11 goals (fifth-most in the NHL), and his 28 points ended his night tied with Leon Draisaitl and Erik Karlsson for the second-most in hockey behind Connor McDavid and his league-leading 32 points on the campaign.

No. 2 Star: Brad Marchand

Nov 19, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) gets a hug from left wing Brad Marchand (63) after he scored against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

A three-assist night for Bruins winger Brad Marchand did not come without some bumps and bruises.

Holding court with reporters after the victory, Marchand acknowledged that his mouth was sore and that his tongue was swollen after a stick caught him in the mouth (and produced a noticeable amount of blood at center ice) in the third period. Marchand also had a run in with a puck that almost caught him the throat. The latter of the two was the potentially scarier for Marchand, he’d admit.

But damn, was it worth it for the kind of performance the Bruins got out of their top-line left wing on Saturday.

In addition to his three helpers, Marchand was a constant thorn in Chicago’s side throughout the night, with countless retrievals and one-on-one victories to either maintain or gain possession. I mean, the man was a straight-up menace against a Blackhawk defense that simply didn’t have a chance.

The Boston power play is also just an absolute monster when Marchand is on the opposite elbow of Pastrnak, and their ability to find one another through traffic is what led to the game’s first goal.

That’s a whole lotta firepower.

No. 1 Star: Charlie McAvoy

Nov 19, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) congratulates left wing Taylor Hall (71) after his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

So, Charlie McAvoy is BACK back, huh?

Skating in just his fifth game since coming back from offseason shoulder surgery, McAvoy dominated from the drop, and finished Saturday’s victory with a Norris-caliber stat line.

On the board with four assists, McAvoy became just the 10th different B’s defenseman to rack up at least four assists in a single game in team history, and the first since Matt Grzelcyk accomplished the feat in Jan. 2022. (Bobby Orr, as you would expect, leads the way in this category with 13 different nights of at least four helpers.)

But McAvoy activated throughout the evening, and added six shots, and was the only Boston defenseman to log at least two minutes of power-play time on ice and two minutes of shorthanded time on ice in the victory.

McAvoy’s five-on-five sample was also dynamite, as the Bruins out-attempted the Blackhawks by a wild 28-4 mark (an 87.50 corsi-for percentage), outshot them 19-4, and outscored them 3-0 during McAvoy’s 15:42 of on-ice five-on-five play.