BOSTON — David Pastrnak’s slow start to the season has been completely erased. The Bruins forward has stepped up his game immensely over the last few months and has been a bright spot during an otherwise dark time for the team.
Pastrnak notched a hat trick in Boston’s 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night at TD Garden. His third goal of the game also marked his 40th of the season — the fifth time Pastrnak has reached the milestone.
“What a deserving player,” Jeremy Swayman said.
“It was special,” Fraser Minten, who played made his Bruins debut Saturday, said. “An elite performance by an elite player. It was cool to see it first-hand and to be a part of that.”
Pastrnak continues to be one of the best scorers the Bruins have had in quite some time, and that talent was on full display Saturday. He’s never been one to discuss personal milestones, and that remained the same even after scoring a hat trick — the 19th of his career — and reaching 40 goals in Boston’s first win since March 11.
“We beat a really good team who is in a playoff spot, so it should be a confidence booster for the whole group,” Pastrnak said. “It’s just tough that it’s five games left, but that’s the situation we are in. We have to just regroup and finish the season strong.”
Pastrnak’s 40-goal season also put him in with some elite company. Only Phil Esposito has more 40-goal seasons with seven, while Rick Middleton also had five seasons with 40 goals.
“He’s had some incredible seasons,” coach Joe Sacco said. “And to still be able to produce at the rate that he has this year with everything going on, it says a lot about him, not only as a player, but as a person as well.”
Pastrnak also tied Bruins legend Ray Bourque for the fourth most 90-point seasons in franchise history, only furthering his accomplishments in a season that’s been hard to find positives.
But even during his early-season struggles, he continued to bring positive energy to practices and games and always went above and beyond to show his leadership to the Bruins.
“Whether it’s getting on the ice early in practice or staying late, he’s gotten results from that his whole career,” Swayman, who reached career win No. 100 on Saturday, said after the game. “That’s why we all have confidence. We never lost confidence in him and that’s something that we could all build off of.”
