David Pastrnak hat trick lift Bruins to 6-3 win over Rangers

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Feb 1, 2025

Published in Hockey

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BOSTON — David Pastrnak was named the NHL’s first star of the month for January. On Saturday at TD Garden, the Bruins’ superstar put dibs on the February honors.

Pastrnak enjoyed a four-point day, including a hat trick, as he outdueled the New York Rangers’ J.T. Miller, who had a pair of goals, and the B’s beat the Blueshirts, 6-3.

The B’s win also put a major crimp in the Rangers’ playoff hopes, pushing them six points behind the B’s.

For the second Saturday matinee in a row, the opposition had pulled off a big trade the night before. Miller’s arrival with the Rangers and his installment as the first line center between Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad added to the buzz that always comes with a B’s-Rangers weekend game at TD Garden.

That new Ranger line started the game and had it going early on. But the B’s survived the early push by the Blueshirts and took the first lead of the game at 10:21 thanks to a pair of New York penalties.

First old friend Urho Vaakanainen took an offensive zone crosscheck. At the tail end of that nothing-doin’ power play, Ryan Lindgren crosschecked Matt Poitras, giving the B’s a 14-second 5-on-3. Just as Vaakanainen stepped out of the box, Charlie McAvoy beat Igor Shesterkin with a bar-down shot.

You’ve read this sentence a few times about the Bruins this year, but they gave up the equalizer just 34 seconds later.

Brandon Carlo tried moving the puck up the boards, but it deflected off Panarin’s skate and right to a wide-open Miller in the slot. Miller wasted no time in ripping it over Jeremy Swayman’s glove shoulder.

But after killing a Ranger power play, the B’s regained the lead at 17:09 on a terrific play by Poitras. The youngster beat Adam Fox for a 50-50 puck behind the NY net and sent a slick feed out front to David Pastrnak for his 25th goal of the season.

The B’s dominated the first few minutes of the second and took a 3-1 lead at 3:39. Brad Marchand took the puck behind the net and fed Andrew Peeke at the right point. Peeke quickly sent it to the net and Charlie Coyle tipped the high shot home for his 13th goal. Ranger coach Peter Laviolette stalled to decide whether to challenge it. He decided against it but took his timeout to get his troops’ minds right.

It didn’t work.

The B’s withstood a brief push and, after a late Will Borgen penalty, Pavel Zacha put the B’s up 4-1. From the side of the net, Marchand tried to feed Elias Lindholm at the other side of the net but Lindholm could not control it. It went into the slot and Zacha was able to bury it.

But with 1:20 left in the second, Marchand took another bad penalty, taking an obvious interference Vaakanainen.

With the leftover time in the third, the Rangers got one back with Miller deflected home a Zibanejad shot/pass 35 seconds into the game.

But this time it was the Rangers’ turn to cough up a quick one, just 46 seconds after the Miller goal. After Pastrnak kept the puck in at the blue line, Poitras again fed him, this time out high and Pastrnak blasted No. 26 past Shesterkin.

Pastrnak set up Morgan Geekie for an open net shot for what would have put the game away, but he hit the side of the net and the Rangers got it back to within two at 10:47. From the slot, Johnny Brodzinski redirected a Lindgren pass over Swayman’s shoulder and it was 5-3.

The Blueshirts had the B’s hemmed in for several shifts late in the game. But when Shesterkin was pulled for the extra skater, Pastrnak completed the hat trick, taking a feed from Geekie and putting No. 27 in the open cage with 3:22 left.