Boston Bruins centre Jesper Boqvist tucks the puck past Ottawa Senators goaltender Joonas Korpisalo during the third period at TD Garden. The Bruins won 6-2 on March 19, 2024.Bob DeChiara/Reuters
David Pastrnak scored two goals less than three minutes apart in the first period and then completed his hat trick in the third to lead the Boston Bruins past the Ottawa Senators 6-2 on Tuesday night.
Pastrnak picked up his 17th regular-season three-goal game and passed team president Cam Neely for No. 7 on the Bruins’ all-time scoring list with 345 career goals.
“It was great. I’m very happy for our team because after two, we were nowhere near our game but we were up by one goal,” Pastrnak said.
After allowing a goal in the final seconds of the second period that allowed Ottawa to pull within 3-2, Pastrnak scored the first of three unanswered goals for Boston that sealed the Bruins’ 41st victory of the season and kept them atop the NHL standings with 11 games to go in the regular season.
In addition to the dozens of hats that cascaded onto the ice following Pastrnak’s third goal, one fan threw a bear coat – complete with eyes, ears and a nose – that Pastrnak decided was a keeper.
“I actually put it on and took a picture of it,” Pastrnak said. “It was pretty cozy.”
Justin Brazeau scored twice, Jesper Boqvist had a goal and Kevin Shattenkirk had three assists as the Bruins won their third straight. Morgan Geekie added two assists for Boston and Linus Ullmark finished with 30 saves.
Brady Tkachuk and Shane Pinto scored for the Senators, who have lost two in a row following a three-game winning streak. Joonas Korpisalo had a rough night, allowing all six goals on 26 shots as a close game through two periods became a rout in the third.
“They were persistent tonight and they were able to get a couple goals in the third that made the difference,” Senators interim coach Jacques Martin said. “I liked how we played in the second. I think it’s just that we need to be able to put three periods together.”
Pastrnak completed the hat trick 4:43 into the period with a backhand from the slot through traffic and the hats started raining down onto the ice.
Pastrnak said he was more pleased with how the Bruins sealed the victory and dominated the final 20 minutes.
“We made sure we were going to keep playing on our toes and extend the lead and don’t sit back. I think we just did that. The first five minutes set the tempo for the rest of the period,” he said.
Pastrnak scored his 42nd of the season on a tip 8:27 into the game, redirecting a shot from the blue line by Matt Grzelcyk past Korpisalo to put the Bruins up 1-0.
Less than three minutes later, Pastrnak pounced on a pass by Tim Stutzle just inside the Boston blue line and headed the other way on a breakaway, beating Korpisalo with a backhander for a 2-0 at 11:23.
Ullmark had to make only five saves in the opening period, then faced 23 in the second as the Senators pressured the Bruins from start to finish and wound up with a pair of goals.
The Senators had several strong scoring chances after the Bruins were called for consecutive penalties early in the period. Ottawa had 37 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage and Stutzle got off a one-timer from in front but Ullmark made the save, then he caught a break when a shot from the side bounced off the crossbar.
Pinto scored a power-play goal on a slap shot that Ullmark got a piece of with his glove but couldn’t keep out of the net. After Brazeau put Boston up 3-1 with a power-play goal on a rebound with 1:09 left in the second, Tkachuk cut the margin back to one in the waning seconds of the period when he poked in his own rebound.
With 31 goals, Tkachuk is just four shy of his career high, which he set last season.
Up next
Senators: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
Bruins: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday night in Boston’s last home game before six straight on the road.