The Bruins Got a Five-Minute Major, Scored Once, Then Let Vegas Back In. Pastrnak's Backhand-to-Forehand Bailed Them Out, 3-2
James Hagens, 19, has four goals in seven games. Geekie scored in back-to-back games for the first time this season. And Matthew Poitras took an elbow to the face and did not take another shift.
Let me say the quiet part first: the Bruins should have buried the Vegas Golden Knights in the second period Monday night. They had a 2-0 lead and most of a five-minute major. They got one goal out of it. And then they spent the third period watching Vegas climb back.
They still won. Boston beat the Golden Knights 3-2 in a shootout at TD Garden for its sixth straight home win, NHL.com reported, and David Pastrnak scored the only goal of the shootout, going backhand-to-forehand and tucking the puck past Carter Hart's left skate. The Bruins are 11-4-1. Vegas, last season's Stanley Cup finalist, is 9-5-2 and 1-3-2 in its past six.
<h3>The kid keeps doing it</h3>
James Hagens opened the scoring at 7:23 of the first, chipping in an Elias Lindholm centering pass from below the goal line to Hart's stick side. That is goal No. 6 for the 19-year-old rookie, four of them in his past seven games, per NHL.com.
Here is the stat that made me sit up: since 2010-11, only two Bruins teenagers have scored as many as six for the team. Tyler Seguin did it (19 in 2011-12, 11 in 2010-11) and Pastrnak did it (15 in 2015-16, 10 in 2014-15). That's the company Hagens is keeping in November.
'It's nice to be here. It's nice to be part of this,' Hagens said. 'Day by day you feel more comfortable and that comes with just the guys in this room. They were so welcoming to me.'
<h3>The elbow, and the power play that wasn't</h3>
At 2:49 of the second, Vegas forward Braeden Bowman got a five-minute major and a game misconduct for elbowing Matthew Poitras. Thirty-four seconds later, Morgan Geekie made it 2-0 on the power play: Pastrnak controlled it below the goal line, backhanded it to Pavel Zacha, and Zacha quickly fed Geekie to finish it, per NHL.com.
That assist was Pastrnak's 300th career power-play point (135 goals, 165 assists). Geekie, who scored a career-high 39 last season, now has goals in consecutive games for the first time this season. 'For me, it's a product of being in the right place at the right time,' he said.
Then nothing. Boston couldn't get a third on the rest of the major, and 98.5 The Sports Hub's Ty Anderson put his finger on it: with the Bruins unable to bury Hart, 'the Knights' push on the Black and Gold began.' Mark Stone scored on a power play at 14:58 of the second, beating Jeremy Swayman to a rebound after a Tomas Hertl shot. Trevor Connelly tied it at 7:23 of the third on a sharp-angle finish off a wraparound feed from Noah Hanifin.
'We knew if we got one the momentum would come back to our side and it would be a game,' Hanifin said.
<h3>Poitras</h3>
The part I care about more than the standings: Poitras went to the room bloodied, came back to the bench with a full shield, and did not take another shift, per NHL.com and The Sports Hub. Coach Marco Sturm had no update after the game. Keep an eye on Tuesday's practice report.
<h3>Swayman's quiet night</h3>
Swayman made 21 saves for his eighth win, which The Sports Hub says ranks third in the league behind Carolina's Pyotr Kochetkov (10) and Minnesota's Jesper Wallstedt (nine). Hart made 25 saves for Vegas. Mitch Marner had two assists to push his point streak to 10 games, with 15 points (one goal, 14 assists) in that run.
Geekie on the night: 'We knew coming in that they're a good team. Obviously, they went to the (Stanley Cup) Final last year, so it was a good test for us, especially being able to sneak out that one the other night.' That was Saturday's 5-4 overtime win over Chicago. Two wins, two one-goal games, one in overtime and one in a shootout.
<h3>Dez's take</h3>
I'll take six straight at home. I'll take a teenager scoring like it's 2014 Pastrnak. What I won't take is a two-goal lead plus nearly five minutes of man advantage turning into a shootout. Good teams put that game away in the second period. This team is 11-4-1 and fun to watch, but the third period Monday looked like a group that thought the game was over.
Next: practices Tuesday and Wednesday, then Thursday night in Pittsburgh, per The Sports Hub.
