Recap: Pastrnak’s hat trick leads the Bruins to another win over Montreal

Streamables tonight, thanks to Chris! If you’re on mobile and don’t see the embedded highlights below, click each score/play link to launch them in a new tab or window.

Brad Marchand casually walks through half the Montreal team and sets up David Pastrnak for a tap-in. It’s Pastrnak’s 39th of the season, and it’s 1-0 Bruins in the first.

Brad Marchand and Jeff Petry discuss the subtle differences between English and French late in the first. Marchand ended up getting an additional minor for the stick jab to Petry’s stomach. Still 1-0 Bruins.

David Pastrnak sure does like scoring goals. He gets his 40th of the season on a great pass from Sean Kuraly, but deserves extra credit for starting the play with a great stick check. 2-0 Bruins in the second.

Nick Suzuki deflects a Marco Scandella point shot to get Montreal back within one shortly after Pastrnak’s second. 2-1 Bruins.

Brendan Gallagher congratulates Zdeno Chara on his 1,500th game, but didn’t get him a gift. Chara takes exception, and the two get matching minors.

2 is good, but 3 is better. Pastrnak scores on the PP for his second hat trick of the year against Montreal, making it 3-1 Bruins in the second.

Montreal pulled Carey Price with a couple of minutes to go, but Tuukka Rask wouldn’t shoot it. BOOOOOOO!!!!

Patrice Bergeron ended up with a late empty-netter, giving us a final score of 4-1 Bruins.

Game notes

• There’s really not much more you can say about Pastrnak at this point. The kid is a joy to watch, and is inarguably the most exciting scorer the Bruins have had in decades. He continues to score in bunches, and continues to look like he’s having a blast doing it. Oh, and he’s locked up to a team-friendly contract. NOT BAD.
• Pastrnak got the highlights, but he had plenty of help from Marchand, who was excellent tonight. He was engaged in all three zones, had a little bit of snarl in his game, and was generally causing problems for Montreal all over the ice.
• Speaking of Pastrnak, one of the more impressive parts of his goals tonight was the defensive play prior to the second one. It was an excellent second effort from Pastrnak, as an initial attempt at a stick check failed. He stuck with it, and got rewarded.
• Rask was good tonight, and benefited from a few friendly bounces. The Canadiens had a few decent pushes tonight, but were turned aside either by Rask or by the posts. He made a couple of the famed Timely Saves too, turning aside a great Montreal chance after one of the Bruins’ goals. It’s currently the middle of February, and Rask still hasn’t lost in regulation at home.
• While they put in an admirable effort tonight, you can tell that the Canadiens are a bit of a mess. They’re very thin on defense, and even thinner with Shea Weber out. There are some decent pieces up front, but they seem to have a whole bunch of third-line guys, and not much truly game-breaking talent. They’ll bring in reinforcements in terms of draft picks when they start selling in a few weeks, but it’s a shame to waste the last prime years of Carey Price’s career without giving him much help.
• David Pastrnak and David Krejci have lockers next to each other in the Bruins’ locker room. After the game, each locker had one of Pastrnak’s 88-logo hats on the shelf. The Czech Daves, man. MAKES YOU ALL WARM AND FUZZY.
• I saw Zdeno Chara catching up with fellow Slovak Tomas Tatar in the tunnel after the game. As Chara nears the end of his career, there’s really no Slovak star to take the torch from him and carry it forward. It’s too bad, as Slovakia had some good years, but it looks like things will be a little lean in the near future.
• Chara was one of a few guys who played with a bit of an edge tonight. He and Gallagher had plenty of sparring matches, and he threw his weight around in other instances as well. Chris Wagner and Jonathan Drouin had a shoving match too. The rivalry has certainly cooled in recent years, but a game like tonight’s, where the Bruins were clearly the better team and Montreal began to see the writing on the wall, may help inject some life into things.
• The Bruins and Canadiens have finished their season series. In 4 games, the Bruins outscored Montreal by a margin of 19-8. Pastrnak had 8 goals in those 4 games, meaning he equaled Montreal’s goal output on his own. PRETTY GOOD.

The Bruins are back at it on Saturday afternoon when their ultimate foe, the vaunted Detroit Red Wings, come to town.