Boston Bruins
“We had a great day. They’d a extremely unhealthy day.”
Mark Kastelic might need stated it finest on Saturday afternoon as Pavel Zacha made his means again into Boston’s dressing room.
“It’s humorous,” Kastelic stated. “Pav got here in and I stated, ‘Think about getting a hat trick and being the Third Star.’”
Positive sufficient, it was a testomony to the lopsided field rating that the Bruins etched on Saturday at TD Backyard that Zacha — contemporary off of scoring the primary hat trick of his NHL profession — was solely the Third Star on Causeway Avenue.
The Second Star? David Pastrnak — who dished out a whopping six assists to tie a career-high scoring output in a single recreation.
And the First Star? Marat Khusnutdinov — who scored 4 objectives of his personal and added a helper to complete with 5 factors, and the primary hat trick of his profession.
“It’s superior,” Khusnutdinov stated after Boston’s eventual 10-2 win over the Rangers. “Fortunate day for me. Thanks, companions.”
After struggling a lopsided 6-2 loss by the hands of New York in Boston’s annual Black Friday recreation in November, the Bruins exacted some revenge in opposition to their Authentic Six foe with a record-setting efficiency on Saturday afternoon.
“We had a great day. They’d a extremely unhealthy day,” Marco Sturm stated.
Saturday stood as the primary time that the Bruins have scored 10 objectives in a single recreation since Oct. 16, 1988 — a blowout win over the Blackhawks the place Cam Neely scored a hat trick and added 4 assists.
With each Zacha and Khusnutdinov scoring their first profession hat methods, Saturday marked the primary time two Bruins have scored hat methods in the identical recreation since Jan. 18, 1964.
“It took longer than I believed it will,” the 28-year-old Zacha stated of lastly scoring his first hat trick. “I’m simply making an attempt to play a two-way recreation.”
“I needed to be actually younger,” he added of the final time he lit the lamp 3 times. “I used to be all the time extra of a passer, in order that by no means actually had hat methods rising up.”
By the point Zacha scored his third objective of the sport with 8:34 nonetheless remaining within the second interval, there wasn’t precisely a deluge of hats that landed on the TD Backyard ice.
There might need been some confusion for these within the stands over what number of objectives Zacha had scored at that time — as his second tally was confirmed through video assessment on the finish of the primary interval.
That power-play objective was solely confirmed after the opening interval ended, prompting the Rangers to return again out on the ice to replay the ultimate 33 seconds of the opening body.
“You gotta work with the group. We’d like extra hats on the ice,” Sturm stated. “They in all probability left too early on that second objective.”
The Backyard crowd didn’t maintain again by the point Khusnutdinov tipped dwelling a Pastrnak feed for his third objective of the day simply 3:51 into the third interval.
“He’s an excellent teammate,” Mark Kastelic stated of Khusnutdinov. “All people loves him, and he’s enjoyable to be round. Simply kudos to him. I imply, from day one, he hasn’t been given something, and he’s labored arduous for all the things.”
The Bruins got here very near changing into the primary crew because the Los Angeles Kings in 1992 to have three hat methods in a single recreation, as rookie ahead Fraser Minten additionally scored two objectives within the victory.
He didn’t discover the again of the online, however Pastrnak additionally landed within the file books together with his playmaking prowess in opposition to New York.
Pastrnak’s six assists tied a franchise file that had additionally been set by Bobby Orr (1973) and Ken Hodge (1971), with the star winger additionally making an attempt Orr for seventh on the crew’s all-time scoring checklist at 888.
“I wish to make performs,” Pastrnak acknowledged. “Rising up, I used to be extra of a playmaker, after which clearly within the NHL, it flipped just a little bit. So I like to attain objectives, don’t get me flawed, however more often than not, if I see anyone in a greater place than me to attain, and I all the time attempt to cross.”
As followers chanted “We Need 10!” within the closing minutes of the sport, Khusnutdinov obliged by tipping one other Pastrnak shot dwelling with 1:29 left in regulation.
The Bruins don’t have a lot time to relaxation on their laurels after Saturday’s offensive onslaught, as Boston will host the Penguins on Sunday at 5 p.m.
“Tremendous pleased with our group. We went down early. And we held it collectively and made a great response,” Pastrnak stated. “After which we have been taking part in with the lead and centered on our recreation. Undoubtedly, you benefit from the second of — you look across the Backyard and see the followers are having fun with the [game].
“As a participant, this type of recreation doesn’t occur fairly often, so you will need to soak it in. However on the similar time, we have now a brand new recreation tomorrow, and we’re gonna should flip the web page.”
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