This was the kind of night the Bruins' offense needed

The fifth game of an 84-game season is far too early for any kind of desperation to set in. That said, the Boston Bruins definitely wanted to find something to feel good about offensively Thursday night after back-to-back 4-1 losses.

They did just that in a 6-1 beatdown of the Utah Mammoth, and they wasted little time doing it.

The Bruins scored three times in a six-minute span in the latter half of the first period to take a commanding lead that they wouldn't relinquish. And there was a lot to like in how they scored, and who scored.

Their second goal was a power-play goal from David Pastrnak – the first goal of the season for Boston's new captain, and the first goal of the season for a Bruins power play that started the year 0-for-10 with a shorthanded goal against. Frederic Brunet, sliding into quarterback duty on the top power-play unit, notched his first NHL point with the primary assist, making a nice play to draw coverage away from Pastrnak.

Pastrnak and the power play would double those totals in the second period, with Pastrnak burying a one-time blast off a nice feed from Morgan Geekie for Boston's second power-play goal in as many tries Thursday. It was Pastrnak's 422nd career goal, tying him with Brad Marchand for fourth on the Bruins' franchise goal list.

That top power-play unit made it 3-for-3 just a few minutes later, this time with Pastrnak returning the favor and setting up Geekie for a one-time finish, and Geekie's first goal of the season. It was the third point of the night for both Geekie and Pastrnak, and Pavel Zacha picked up the secondary assist for his point of the year.

Just like that, multiple early-season narratives were squashed. The previously disastrous power play was suddenly red-hot. And Pastrnak and Geekie's slow starts quickly became old news.

The Bruins' first goal of the night came at 5-on-5, off some good offensive-zone work from one of coach Marco Sturm's new lines. Elias Lindholm forced a turnover with some good pressure, freeing up the puck for new linemate James Hagens. Hagens then set up the third member of the new third line, Casey Mittelstadt, for Mittelstadt's first goal and point of the season.

The third goal also came at 5-on-5, with Mason Lohrei taking a pass from Matt Poitras, dancing through the right circle and finishing low stick-side for a goal that chased Utah starter Sebastian Cossa from the game.

That assist was Poitras's first point of the season. His first goal would come in the second period, when he buried a feed from Pastrnak off the rush. The assist marked Pastrnak's fourth point of the night, tripling his season total in the process.

The youth production was another highlight in this one. Poitras had two points, giving him his first multi-point game in the NHL since Feb. 4, 2025. Each of the Bruins' first three goals was set up by a primary assist from one of the kids – Hagens, then Brunet, then Poitras.

Switching away from the offense, another thing for the Bruins to feel good about after Thursday was their penalty kill. They tested it often in this one, but killed all seven Utah power plays. That was especially impressive given that the Mammoth entered the night with the NHL's best power play at an absurd 61.5% (8-for-13).

Jeremy Swayman was a big part of that. He turned aside 36 of the 37 shots he faced on the night, including 11 on Utah power plays. Seventeen of Swayman's saves came during the first period when it was still a game, so he certainly played a big role in this win.

The Bruins wrap up their three-game homestand – and Charlie McAvoy's six-game suspension – Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers. McAvoy will return on Tuesday when Boston opens a four-game road trip in San Jose.