The Bruins had won their last two games entering Tuesday, but both had left something to be desired. Their 2-1 overtime win in Montreal was a game where they did just enough to get by a bad team. In their 6-5 win over the Flyers on Saturday, things got way too close for comfort in the third period after they went up 5-2.
Pastrnak hat trick leads Bruins past Senators
Facing another lesser opponent in the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, the goal was a more complete, more dominant effort. For two periods, it wasn’t really looking like that. When Brady Tkachuk cut Boston’s lead to 3-2 with four seconds left in the second, it looked like the Bruins were going to have muddle through the final 20 minutes of another game that was closer than it should have been.
This time, however, the Bruins showed some killer instinct in the third and – most importantly – didn’t take their foot off the gas once they extended lead, ultimately finishing off a 6-2 triumph.
David Pastrnak completed a hat trick to up the lead to 4-2 4:43 into the third. Just 25 seconds later, Jesper Boqvist made it 5-2. After surrendering 23 shots on goal in the second, the Bruins held the Senators to four in the third. Justin Brazeau rounded out the scoring with his second power-play goal of the night.
Here are four takeaways from the game:
Another Pastrnak hat trick, and a new ‘suit’
While many of his teammates took a while to settle into this one, Pastrnak brought his ‘A’ game and took control pretty much right from the start en route to his 17th career hat trick (19 if you count the playoffs).
Pastrnak opened the scoring 8:27 into the game when he tipped in a shot from Matt Grzelcyk. It was a great deflection, but the better play may have come a second earlier when Pastrnak tied up Claude Giroux’s stick in the slot to allow Pavel Zacha’s pass to get to Grzelcyk.
Three minutes later, Pastrnak scored again, picking off a Tim Stutzle pass high in the defensive zone and taking off the other way on a breakaway, which he finished with a backhand flip past Joonas Korpisalo.
Pastrnak capped off the hat trick early in the third period with Boston’s crucial fourth goal after Ottawa had cut the deficit to one. After wrapping behind the net and backhanding a pass across the front that ended up on Kevin Shattenkirk’s stick, Pastrnak circled back towards the net and pounced on a loose puck before backhanding a shot past Korpisalo.
Pastrnak is now up to 44 goals and 99 points on the season, putting him right on the doorstep of a second straight 100-point season. On Tuesday, he also passed Cam Neely on the Bruins’ career goals list, moving one ahead of him with 345.
A funny moment came after Pastrnak’s third goal. Bruins who record a hat trick get to pick out one of the hats thrown onto the ice to hold onto. On Tuesday, Pastrnak wound up with not a hat, but a full bear suit.
“It was cozy,” Pastrnak said. “…I really wonder how they got it [on the ice]. Credit to the one who threw it there. They came after the game to the bench, so I gave them a stick as a thank you for the bear.”
The JB3 fourth line might be here to stay
The Celtics might have the most famous JB in Boston in Jaylen Brown, but the Bruins’ fourth line suddenly has three of them with Justin Brazeau, Jesper Boqvist and Johnny Beecher, and they all continue to play very well.
Brazeau was the star of that group on Tuesday, recording his first career two-goal game, with both tallies coming on the power play. On the first, he tipped a shot from Shattenkirk, then snagged the rebound and put it home. On the second, he took a pass behind the net, pulled it to the front with a power move, and finished past Korpisalo.
“He seems to get to every puck below the goal line,” Montgomery said of Brazeau. “He makes subtle, little smart plays. You saw his ability – he has nice touch. I'm glad he got rewarded, because he's been playing a lot better than what his stats have shown, like on paper. We're really happy with how well he's playing in all three zones, and how well he supports his teammates.”
Brazeau wasn’t the only member of the fourth line to score Tuesday, though. Boqvist netted Boston's fifth goal, taking a pass from Beecher in transition and blowing past Jakob Chychrun before tucking the puck around Korpisalo.
It’s a small sample, but in the two games Beecher, Boqvist and Brazeau have been together, the Bruins have out-attempted opponents 17-8 during their shifts, outscored them 2-0, and have an 85.6% expected goals share. The combination of Boqvist’s speed and playmaking through the middle of the ice; Brazeau’s size, physicality and puck protection skills down low; and Beecher’s defense, skating and faceoff ability has made for a good mix.
Shattenkirk makes his case to keep playing
Explaining his approach to battles for lineup spots on Monday, Montgomery said that players who play well will continue to play. Well, Kevin Shattenkirk made a pretty good case to continue to play on Tuesday, then.
After being a healthy scratch the last two games, the veteran defenseman drew back in and promptly registered three assists – his first three-point game since 2017. And he did it while playing on the left, his off side, something he said he’s done for a few games here and there throughout his 14-year career but never on any sort of regular basis.
Shattenkirk’s first assist came from walking the blue line on the power play and snapping a tippable shot towards Brazeau in front. On the second, he drove hard to the net from the left side, and even though his pass was actually intended for Pavel Zacha, an Ottawa stick deflected it right to Pastrnak instead. On the third, he started the breakout that led to Boqvist’s goal.
“I can't say enough,” Montgomery said of Shattenkirk’s night. “I thought that fourth goal [Pastrnak’s] that extended the lead, he made two incredibly clever plays. He looked really good on his off side, defending and breaking pucks out, which is not easy. Breaking pucks out in the neutral zone, it’s not easy because you're not naturally looking north; you're looking to the middle. And he did a really good job managing the game.”
Shattenkirk had been playing pretty well even before the back-to-back scratches, but he always seemed destined to sit at some point as the team tries to get deadline acquisition Andrew Peeke (another right shot) up to speed. Being able to play on the left could open the door to more playing time, although there’s a crowded field there, too, with Parker Wotherspoon and Mason Lohrei both vying for playing time as well.
The reality is that there’s going to continue to be some rotation here as Montgomery tries to figure out the best way to line up his defense before Game 1 of the playoffs. We had Shattenkirk outside the starting six in our Game 1 lineup projection earlier this week, but Tuesday night was a reminder that even one game can potentially shift some thinking.
Ullmark strengthens his Game 1 claim
Speaking of looking ahead to Game 1 of the playoffs, Linus Ullmark continued to stake his claim to the net with another strong outing on Tuesday.
He stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced, including six of seven high-danger shots. He was at his best in the second period, when the Senators peppered him with 23 shots as they attempted to level the score. Twelve of those shots came on three power plays, including 37 seconds of a 5-on-3.
Ullmark probably could have done better on Ottawa’s second goal, when he couldn’t hold onto Brady Tkachuk’s initial shot and gave up a rebound goal. But one slip-up shouldn’t diminish his otherwise stellar night. He still ended up with two goals allowed on 3.67 expected goals against, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Since he survived the trade deadline and remained a Bruin, Ullmark is 3-0-0 with a .956 save percentage. He now has a .913 save percentage in 10 starts since the All-Star break, compared to a .902 in 11 starts for Jeremy Swayman.
It’s still too early to make any declarations about who starts Game 1, but Ullmark is the hotter hand right now.