David Pastrnak scored three goals in the third period Tuesday night as the Boston Bruins overcame a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 at PNC Arena.
The performance marked the first career hat trick for Pastrnak, who’s currently in the midst of his fourth NHL season. And it coincidentally came exactly one year after his linemate, Brad Marchand, tallied three third-period goals in a 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
In fact, Pastrnak is the first Bruins player to score three goals in a single period since Marchand accomplished the feat on March 13, 2017.
“That kid, when he turns it on, he’s special, the way he did tonight,” Marchand said after Tuesday’s win, according to NHL.com. “He just took over in the third.”
Matt Grzelcyk started Tuesday’s comeback with a goal midway through the third period that made it 4-2. Pastrnak then scored three of the next four goals in a nine-minute span, giving him 27 for the season.
Pastrnak, who scored 34 goals last season, now has 86 in 240 career games. With Wednesday’s hat trick, he passed Barry Pederson (85) for the most goals scored by a Bruins player before the age of 22. He’ll have plenty of chances to tack on, too, as Pastrnak doesn’t turn 22 until May 25.
