- Winger secures 13th career hatty as Boston cruised 7-1 win over Ducks.
Hampus Lindholm may have seen David Pastrnak only twice a year during his time with the Anaheim Ducks, but there was one noteworthy performance by the Winger which is hard to forget:
Pastrnak’s only career four-game goal was scored against Anaheim on October 14th, 2019 at TD Garden.
“He’s a special player,” Lindholm said. “The way he can move the puck and put it in the back of the net, it’s really special. It’s fun to have him on my side finally.”
Lindholm delighted in the fact that on Sunday night when Pastrnak potted his 13th career hat trick in the Boston Bruins’ 7-1 drubbing of the Ducks at Honda Center. Pastrnak bolted past Johnny Bucyk for sole possession of third place on the B’s all-time hat tricks list and is now just one back of tying Cam Neely for second.
“It will never get old,” Pastrnak said when talking about his hat trick haul, which does not include two others in the postseason. “You’re scoring goals in the best league in the world. It’s not easy. I will never take it for granted. It’s my job to score goals. It still makes you happy.”
Boston was over the moon with Pastrnak’s performance as it secured a flawless 3-0 swing through California while extending their point streak to 14 games (11-0-3) and improving their overall record to an astounding 32-44 on the season.
The Black & Gold’s 68 points are the second-most through 40 games in NHL history (Boston, 71 in 1929-30), while their 32 wins also equal the second-most through 40 games in league legend with the 1944-45 Canadiens (the 1929-30 B’s has 35 wins).
David Pastrnak’s first goal of the night opened the scoring (his 62nd career game-opening goal) and secured his sixth career 30-goal season, making him just the seventh player in Bruins history to achieve that feat.
Phil Esposito and Rick Middleton, Johnny Bucyk -7, Peter McNab, Cam Neely, and Patrice Bergeon 6; were all players who attained this honour. The winger is also the third player this season to hit the 30-goal plateau, joining Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (33) and Buffalo Sabers’ Tage Thompson (31).
“You can’t teach Krejci finding, buying time and Pasta just stopping there,” head coach Jim Montogomery said regarding the center’s feed from behind the net and Pastrnak’s one-timer finish from the right-wing circle to put Boston on top, 1-0, at 3:49 of the first. “Goal scorers know how to get open, that’s why they continue to score goals. That shot was amazing.”
Further, into the game, Pastrnak also assisted on David Krejci’s first-period maker to double the Bruins’ lead, before burying two goals in the middle frame – just 17 seconds apart; including a gorgeous breakaway finish that had Boston ahead, 4-1, after 40 minutes.
“Elite, creative – he’s like an artist the different ways he scores,” Montgomery said. “Everyone talks about the one-timers, but he scores off his front foot, his back foot, his backhand, fakes. I would have broke my ankle if I was the goalie in the nets on that breakaway one.”
Pastrnak’s 30th goal of the season was scored in his 40th game, which set a new personal best after doing it in 42 games during the 2019-20 campaign. He is now the seventh different Bruin to score 30 or more goals in 40 games or fewer. Pastrnak joins the likes of Esposito (four times), Neely (1993-94), Dit Clapper (1929-30), Herb Cain (1943 -44), Bill Cowley (1943-44) and Cooney Weiland (1929-30).
“The puck went in, obviously, I had some good looks,” said Pastrnak. “I was able to capitalize. Games like this sometimes, it’s good. Overall, unbelievable trip for us. Let’s go home now.”
Lindholm Hampus’ Homecoming
For Lindholm Hampus, the Sunday night game vs Anaheim Ducks was a sort of homecoming for him, as he came back to Honda Center as a visitor. Hampus spent the first nine seasons of his career as an Anaheim player before he was traded to Bruins last March for Urho Vaakanainen, John Moore, a 2022 first-round pick, and two other draft picks.
“It was weird,” Lindholm recounted. “Walking in, I got lost walking around the locker room and didn’t really know where to go. It was a different feeling, but happy with the two points and the process. We’ve been playing good here on this road trip, so nice to be able to go back home after a big win.”
In the first period, the Ducks paid homage to Lindholm with a video tribute highlighting his play on the ice, personality, and community work away from the rink.
“It kind of shaped me in my first couple years in the NHL, being here,” said Lindholm. “The organization has been so good to me. I’ve had so many family and friends here. Great memories. I’m obviously super happy about all that, but it’s a new chapter for me now which I’m really excited about as well.”
Lindholm rounded off the night with his fifth goal of the season when he pinched down the wall all the way into the corner and fired a shot from a bad angle that sneaked past John Gibson Anaheim’s goalie, to extend the Bruins’ lead to 6-1 with 8:34 to go.
“I was shooting to score,” said Lindholm. “I’ve tried to get in my head to shoot a little bit more. Good things happen when you shoot, I feel like. It was nice to see it go in.”
Boston Bruins Displeasure
The Boston Bruins acknowledged that they were displeased with a scrum following Anaheim’s only goal late in the first period when Trevor Zegras seemingly barked something at Trent Frederic in front of the Boston Bench.
“Yeah, for sure. You can’t do that after a goal,” said Pastrnak. “You have to have some certain respect. You can’t score a goal and then yell at the opponent no matter what happened in the sequence before…it hypes everybody else up.”
Montogomery felt that the Bruins let emotion get the best of them in the second, although they put this behind them following Pastrnak’s back-to-back tallies.
“Well, it had an effect in injecting emotion into the game, right?” Montgomery said. “I think that’s why that scrum happened, but after the first period, I thought we got away from our game because of all that and we talked about our culture and how we want to represent ourselves and get back to playing real good hockey. I think we got back to our game.”
Boston Love
Boston Bruins was impressed by the wide number of fans that poured into the Honda Center on Sunday night and hyped up the team with pro-Bruins chants throughout the night.
“It was outstanding,” Pastrnak recalled. “I think the whole bench in the third period took a second. It was pretty loud there cheering by Bruins fans. Respect for them to coming and support us. They were pretty loud.”
Montogomery stated that he was surprised by the amount of support the Bruins received this season outside Boston, especially during their matches in California, Colorado, and Florida.
“You know what’s been amazing, having not played for an Original Six or a team that has great fans like the Bruins and travels so well is how well we’re represented everywhere,” he said. “It makes you feel very lucky to be a part of the Bruins.”
By assisting Pastrnak’s second goal, Patrice Bergeron notched his 600th career helper, becoming the fourth player in Bruins history to reach this mark. He joined the likes of Ray Bourque (1,111), Johnny Bucyk (794), and Bobby Orr (624).
David Krejci (goal, two assists) recorded his 188th career multi-point game, trying Ken Hodge for ninth most Bruins history, per NHL Stats.
Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves for his fourth win in six games (4-0-2), including victories in both of his starts during the West Coast swing. “Really solid,” said Montgomery. “They had a lot of dangerous chances in the first 25-30 minutes. I thought we really took over once we got those two Pastrnak goals. The air in the balloon came out, I think.”
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