David Pastrnak of Havirov, Czech Republic recorded his 21st National Hockey League career hat trick on Saturday. He accomplished the feat in a 5-1 Boston Bruins upset win over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Toronto Dominion Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Ironically, the three goal game and dominant Bruins performance came only one day after we documented the Bruins’s massive struggles this season. Not many expected the Bruins to beat the Hurricanes when you consider the fact that the Bruins are 27 points back of Carolina and the fact that Boston had a 10 game losing streak before beating the Hurricanes.
Inside look at the hat trick
Pastrnak had a natural hat trick in the game. His first goal put the Bruins up 3-0 at 10:14 of the second period. Elias Lindholm of Boden, Sweden and Morgan Geekie of Strathclair, Minnesota notched the assists. Pastrnak then scored from Lindholm and Geekie again at 1:28 of the third period to put the Bruins up 4-0. Then with four minutes and 42 seconds left in the third period, Pastrnak closed out the scoring from defenseman Mason Lohrei of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Geekie.
For Pastrnak, the hat trick marker was his 40th goal of the season. Pastrnak is one of five players this season to score 40 goals. The others are Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl of Cologne, Germany (52), Toronto Maple Leafs right winger William Nylander (44), Washington Capitals left winger Alexander Ovechkin of Moscow, Russia (42), and Buffalo Sabres centre Tage Thompson of Phoenix, Arizona (40).
Despite the assist, it has been a very disappointing season for Lohrei. He is a -37, which is the third worst plus/minus in the NHL. The two players with a worse plus/minus are both Chicago Blackhawks. Connor Bedard is a -39 and Tyler Bertuzzi is a -38.
Pastrnak’s 2024-25 season
Pastrnak has 40 goals and 50 assists for 94 points. During 77 games, he is a -7 with 42 penalty minutes, 22 power-play points, four game-winning goals, 309 shots on goal, three faceoff wins, 22 blocked shots, 55 hits, 38 takeaways, and 109 giveaways.
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