The first line continues to make an impact for the Boston Bruins game in and game out.
Such was the case Monday night when the deadly trio of Brad Marchand ( one goal), David Pastrnak ( one goal) and Patrice Bergeron ( one assist) all played key roles in Boston’s 2-1 overtime win over the Dallas Stars at TD Garden.
The team certainly needed a win after a frustrating 1-0 loss against the Nashville Predators on Saturday, and Marchand said the B’s knew this game was theirs before the puck dropped.
“Even before the game, it just felt like we had the faith tonight,” he said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “We were determined to have a good game and we did.”
It wasn’t easy at times. Boston rung the post multiple times throughout the game and had an early whistle blown on a play that eliminated what would have been the go-ahead goal. But despite the setbacks, Marchand noted the importance of pushing forward.
“At times it can be frustrating,” he said. “We had that mindset that we’re gonna continue to push forward and we were happy that we were getting the opportunities and we knew eventually they were gonna break. It was only gonna take one shot.”
That one shot just happened to be the overtime game-winner from Marchand.
“It’s nice to finally get the back of the net there … we’re happy to get that win.”
Here are some other notes from Monday’s Bruins-Stars game:
— Tuukka Rask made 24 saves on 25 shots. He now is 4-3 on the season.
He let in a first-period goal, something the netminder has struggled with this season. But head coach Bruce Cassidy knew that despite the Bruins’ occasional first-period issues, his club would respond.
“We’ve had trouble getting out of the first period, so has Tuukka,” Cassidy said. “So you start wondering … but at the end of the day we were gonna keep that group out there … it was a good response.
“He’s gotta put it behind him I think we all did and we played a pretty solid game in front of him after that
— Torey Krug had his best game of the season, notching an assist and four shots while collecting 21:13 of ice time.
— Pastrnak’s first-period goal marked his league-leading 12th of the season.
— Marchand, Pastrnak and Bergeron now have combined for 53 (!) points through 14 games.
