There was a time when the Bell Centre was a house of horrors for the Boston Bruins. A place where dreams of two road points went to die. Tuesday’s 8-1 thrashing in Montreal should be all the evidence you need to see the ghosts of the Bell Centre past are no longer an issue.
The Bruins benefited from six different goal scorers and had nine skaters pick up at least one point in the win. David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle, Sean Kuraly and Brad Marchand all had three-point nights.
“It’s good,” Pastrnak said of the win following his sixth career NHL hat trick.
“A lot of guys get on the scoresheet. Two points is two points no matter how you get there. If you win 1-0 or 8-1 it doesn’t matter for tomorrow. We can enjoy it for tonight, get some confidence, wash it off for tomorrow and same way if we lose, be ready for tomorrow night.”
Pastrnak’s three goals came in a span of 29 minutes. The Bruins had a total of 24 shots in the contest.
“It was a big win for us,
especially after the last game here . We knew they would come strong and they’re a good team,” added Pastrnak. “Good for us that we were able to stick with our plan and get the two points.”
With his three-goal performance in Montreal, Pastrnak increased his league best goal total to 23, five more than Connor McDavid who sits second with 18. For what it’s worth, Brad Marchand sits one back of McDavid with 17.
Pastrnak also has a league best 12 power play goals, two better than James Neal who sits second with 10. With 23 goals in 24 games, some guys named Brett Hull (24) and Mario Lemieux (26) are the only two in the last 30 years who have scored more goals through their first 24 games of a season than Pastrnak has.
Hull and Lemieux, were those guys any good? Asking for a friend.
Although the Bruins victory was a lopsided one, it wasn’t a perfect night for the Bruins. Head coach Bruce Cassidy wasn’t too crazy about his team’s start, despite the Bruins opening the scoring with Jake DeBrusk’s power play goal eight minutes into the contest.
After Jaroslav Halk was unable to go Saturday night against Minnesota due to illness, the Bruins flipped the goalie rotation schedule, giving Halak the start in Montreal. Making some big saves early in the first, he allowed the Bruins to open the flood gates en route to victory.
“[Halak was] really solid in the first period. Five-on-five they were better than us early on, obviously our power play got us some goals and has been good for us all year in that regard, but Halak made some big saves and we weren’t sharp,” Cassidy said of Halak who made 12 first period saves, 35 in all.
“We weren’t as hard on the puck as we need to be, they were. Then we were able to finish some nice plays and the goal at the end of the period probably hurt them.”
Even on a night where offensively, everyone was joining in on the fun, it’s not often you’ll see a multi-point night from Sean Kuraly.
And that’s just fine.
“He changed lines tonight, played with Anders Bjork and Danton Heinen, they're a little more attack oriented,” Cassidy said of Kuraly’s jump to the third line. “So maybe - who knows, sometimes you're with the same guys for a long time. I think that line has been very effective for us. This year they haven't quite found their traction. So we mixed it up a little bit, it worked out for him.”
Taking advantage of his new role Tuesday night, Kuraly enjoyed the night he had with Bjork and Heinen, both of whom scored goals in the win. Kuraly didn’t find the back of the net in the win, but did however pick up three assists, including one on the *checks notes* power play?
"He jumps on the power play late at the end of one, makes a play. He's going to be want to be on it every day now so that will be a challenge for the coaching staff,” Cassidy joked.
Prior to Tuesday's contest, Kuraly had just 2:36 of power play ice time this season.
“Good for him. Listen, he does a lot of dirty work. Everyone likes to score, I don't care who you are in the lineup, you want to make plays,” added Cassidy. “He knows his value to this team is more on the other side of the puck, but I was happy for him.”
Eventually there will be a day where the Bruins one-two punch down the middle of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci are a thing of the past. Bergeron’s number 37 will hang from the rafters, watching down as potential replacements glide from end to end on the TD Garden ice.
The Bruins are hoping Jack Studnicka becomes one those replacements.
With Bergeron out of the lineup for at minimum a pair of road games Tuesday and Wednesday, Studnicka took the right first step to being that Bergeron or Krejci replacement someday, making his NHL debut Tuesday night.
“Pace early on was an issue, looked like he was a little nervous when to handle the puck, when to attack. But as the game went on he still battled in the faceoff circle which was good for us. Defensively, thought he was trying to be on the right side of pucks,” Cassidy said of Studnicka’s game.
"As the game went on I got more comfortable,” Studnicka said of his play. “I don't think my polish was where I wanted it to be or expected it to be. Boys made it easy on me. We scored a couple early goals and we just kept going from there."
The game was all but over by the time the third period rolled around. Even more so at 17:58 of the third period when Danton Heinen chipped in the Bruins eighth and final goal of the night.
As much as the goal was meaningless from a score standpoint, it was much more meaningful for the 20-year old Studnicka who picked up his first career NHL point on the goal.
“I know that’s a meaningless goal in the end, but for him, it’s very meaningful,” said Cassidy. “He gets an assist on it. As an offensive guy you want to get your first NHL point. So that’s out of the way, good for him.”
As Studnicka mentioned, things got better for him as the game went along. He certainly looked more comfortable with each shift and started to do more of the little things correctly. Centering DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle also helped Studnicka with his comfort level.
Filling Bergeron’s or Krejci's eventual shoes will be no easy task. We will all know what each does on a nightly basis. Studnicka was a stud at the faceoff dot Tuesday, winning eight of 12 draws.
Making your NHL debut is an exciting moment for any NHL’er, regardless of age. If there’s one road building players would like to make their debut in, the Bell Centre is up there. From the history, to the atmosphere, the Bell Centre is one of the best barns the NHL has to offer.
“I couldn’t ask for a better building besides TD Garden to play in,” Studnicka said of his debut. “The whole experience lived up to the expectations. “It’s the NHL, high atmosphere, a lot going on a lot to take in. It was cool to see.”
If the Bruins can ever get, and stay healthy there’s not much room for Studnicka at the moment. Developing his pro game more in Providence is best for Studnicka and his future as a pivot down the middle.
But for as long as injuries haunt the Bruins and Studnicka’s name continues to get called, impressing outings like this will only benefit the youngster.
Studnicka and the Bruins are back at Wednesday night, taking on a surprising Senators club in Ottawa. Tuukka Rask will be back in net.
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