The Bruins’ first line cannot be stopped.
Boston’s trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak led the way Tuesday night, combining for eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in the B’s 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
Pastrnak paced his teammates with four points, scoring two goals and as many assists. He netted his ninth and 10th goals of the season Tuesday, putting him in a first-place tie with Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews for most in the league. Pastrnak’s four points boosted his season total to 15 through nine games.
Despite being the best line in the NHL, Bergeron said they don’t feel any added pressure going into games.
“I think we have high expectations of ourselves, so we don’t see the outside pressure as extra pressure at all,” he told NESN’s Alex Kraemer after the game, as seen on NESN’s Bruins postgame coverage. “We’re trying to go out there and get better every game. … A perfect example was the first period, and we talked about it and we were better after that.”
They certainly were, as seven of their eight points came after the first period en route to the Bruins’ fifth victory of the year.
Here are some other notes from Tuesday’s Bruins-Senators game:
— Urho Vaakanainen took a Mark Borowiecki elbow to the head in the first and was removed from the game with a concussion. There was no penalty call on the play, and rather than criticizing the calls (or lack thereof), head coach Bruce Cassidy said the team just needs to “play through it.”
“At the end of the day there’s not much you can do about it,” he said after the game, as seen on “Bruins Overtime Live.”
— Brandon Carlo made two (!) big saves for Boston. The first came in the first period in a scoreless game, and the second came in the third when the defenseman was in the right place at the right time and stopped the puck with Tuukka Rask out of the crease.
“I thought he had a real good stick tonight in all situations. Saved some goals around the net,” Cassidy said. “… He was called upon to really defend and defend hard against some good forwards. Some speed and some size. He did a great job for us.”
— The Bruins collected four points on their four-game road trip and finished it off with a 1-1-2 record.
“Pretty good formula tonight. It’s what we needed.” Cassidy said.
— Boston’s power play accounted for two of its four goals on the night.
