BOSTON — After more than three weeks of misery, the Boston Bruins ended their suffering Saturday night at TD Garden with a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes that snapped their 10-game losing streak. David Pastrnak led the charge for the Bruins, recording the 21st hat trick of his career while finishing the game with five total points.
“It’s fun to win a hockey game and see the Garden happy and cheerful, being loud with great support today,” Pastrnak said. “Obviously, it’s been a tough couple of weeks, so it’s good on us. I’m proud of the group. The effort and commitment to win today was there.”
Pastrnak’s first two points of the night came on the first two goals of the game when he collected the primary assist on a pair of goals from Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm that gave Boston a 2-0 advantage to close the first period.
After setting up a couple of goals, Pastrnak decided to score a few of his own. He put his first on the board early in the middle frame. After collecting the puck directly in front of the Carolina net, Pastrnak carried it out along the goal line and patiently waited before firing a shot through a small opening between the near post and the shoulder of Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen.
As if he hadn’t toyed with Andersen enough already, Pastrnak made the Carolina netminder look foolish when he beat him again to start the third period. With Boston entering the attacking zone off the rush, Pastrnak made a beeline toward the slot, where he caught the puck out of midair before batting it into the back of the net to score his second goal of the night.
A second serving 🍝🍝 pic.twitter.com/6r8iT8VPFS — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 6, 2025
He wasn’t done yet. Pastrnak capped off the hat trick with a dizzying deke on Andersen to tally his 40th goal of the season. “He’s an incredible player,” said Lindholm of Pastrnak. “He’s played some really good hockey for us. It’s pretty amazing, and it was fun to play tonight. Obviously, he and Geekie have some good chemistry there and find each other pretty well, so it was fun to be a part of.”
Pastrnak, Lindholm, and Geekie combined for 11 points in the game as Boston’s top line. While those three handled Boston’s offense, Jeremy Swayman locked it down at the other end of the ice and collected the 100th win of his NHL career as he finished the night with 39 saves against 40 shots. It wasn’t until there was less than a minute to go in the game that Carolina put a puck past him with a goal from Justin Robidas.
“We haven’t gotten results when we should have a lot, which is a part of the game, and to not have it for so many games in a row, it’s heavy,” Swayman said. “What a feeling. I’m so proud of the boys and so proud of this group to come through it against a very worthy team and really play our game and show what we’re made of.”
As relieving as the win was for the Bruins, it was undercut by the fact that they were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with the Montreal Canadiens defeating the Philadelphia Flyers. “We’ll use it as motivation to be even better in the upcoming days and next season,” said Pastrnak. “Right now, I wish we were in a different situation.”
Boston has five games left before the end of the regular season, the next of which comes tomorrow night on the road against the Buffalo Sabres.
