The Boston Bruins must love having David Pastrnak back in the lineup. After missing the first two weeks of the season due to a hip ailment, Pastrnak returned to the Bruins on January 31. In three games, the native of Havirov, Czech Republic has been on fire, as he has notched five goals and two assists for seven points.
On Wednesday night in Philadelphia, while the Flyers mascot Gritty was painting his own self-portrait, Pastrnak was the star of the show as he delivered his ninth career hat trick. However, what made this hat trick rather significant was the fact he scored his first goal in the first minute of regulation, and his third goal in the final minute of regulation in a 4-3 Boston win over Philadelphia.
It did not take Pastrnak long at all to get on the scoreboard. At the 12 second mark of the first period, Pastrnak scored from Charlie McAvoy of Long Beach, NY, and first-year Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron of L’Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec after a defensive miscue by the Flyers.
Then after the Flyers took a 3-1 third period lead, Pastrnak was lethal on the Bruins power play. He helped the Bruins pull within one goal at 12:05 of the third period from Bergeron. Nick Ritchie of Orangeville, Ontario picked up the other Bruins’ assist. Then with 15 seconds left in the third period, Pastrnak scored again from Brad Marchand of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Bergeron to force overtime. There, Bergeron scored the overtime winner from Pastrnak and David Krejci of Sternberk, Czech Republic at the 31-second mark of the extra period to give Boston a one-goal win.
A major reason why the Flyers lost was their lack of discipline. The Bruins came back to win the game due to three Flyers penalties by Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Kevin Hayes, and Scott Laughton. With the win, the Bruins and Flyers are tied for first in the East Divison with 16 points each, but the Bruins do have a game in hand.
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