David Pastrnak broke out for two power-play goals and two assists, leading the Boston Bruins to a 6-1 win over the visiting Utah Mammoth on Thursday night.
All five of Boston’s goal-scorers — Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie (one goal, two assists), Matthew Poitras (one goal, one assist), Casey Mittelstadt and Mason Lohrei — had entered the game without lighting the lamp this season.
Pastrnak and Geekie, who reunited on a line with Pavel Zacha, combined for 68 tallies a season ago.
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman made 36 saves, including 17 in the first period alone.
Boston, which was on a two-game losing streak, broke out of a season-long 0-for-10 power-play drought with a 3-for-4 night. Meanwhile, Utah went 0-for-7 after a blistering 8-for-13 start to the season.
Boston College product Jack McBain scored the lone goal for Utah, which has lost two of its past three.
Sebastian Cossa was pulled from his second NHL start after allowing three goals on eight shots through 15:51 in the first period. Karel Vejmelka stopped 11 of 14 in relief.
After Swayman’s back-to-back saves on Daniil But and Michael Carcone helped Boston kill Utah’s first man advantage, Mittelstadt put the Bruins ahead at 10:06 of the opening period. James Hagens corralled the puck off Elias Lindholm’s takeaway and connected with Mittelstadt for a snap-shot goal from the left circle.
Pastrnak broke his personal and the team’s cold spell on the power play, doubling the lead four minutes later. Rookie defenseman Frederic Brunet wound into the slot off a faceoff play and made a no-look pass to the right dot, where Pastrnak weaved a wrister through traffic and five-hole on Cossa. The primary assist was Brunet’s first NHL point in his third game.
Just 1:29 later, Lohrei scored a beauty to make it 3-0, driving from the point down the right side before cutting inside the circle and wiring a shot upstairs.
The rout continued into the second period as Geekie sent a cross-ice pass to Pastrnak, who finished a power-play one-timer from the left side at 4:40. The duo reversed roles in another man-up situation at 7:57, with Pastrnak finding a seam to Geekie for a score from the right circle.
Poitras joined the scoring party to finish another three-goal frame for Boston at 14:08. Capitalizing on a 2-on-1 rush, the young center finished off Pastrnak’s centering pass following a neutral-ice takeaway.
McBain broke Swayman’s shutout bid with 10:12 left in regulation, deflecting Dmitri Simashev’s turnaround shot from the top of the left circle.
–Field Level Media
