BOSTON — As if Boston’s 6-3 defeat of the New York Rangers at TD Garden on Wednesday wasn’t thrilling enough, a number of Bruins achieved major milestones as part of the victory.
With an assist on a goal scored by David Pastrnak in the second period, Patrice Bergeron recorded his 76th point of the season, a career high for the 15-year veteran. The 33-year-old added to that point total with a goal late in the third period to reach 77 points.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t seem surprised by Bergeron’s success.
“Generally, right forwards hit their peak maybe mid-to-late 20’s, and Bergy has. He has his whole career.,” Cassidy said following Wednesday’s win.
Torey Krug achieved a major milestone of his own in his first game back from a concussion. With his assist on Pastrnak’s second-period goal, the defenseman passed Craig Janney for the most points (284) by a United States-born Bruin in team history.
Krug spoke of the accomplishment after the game.
“It’s special for sure. You know, with the rich history of the Boston Bruins to be a guy like that is pretty cool, but I don’t want to stop there,” Krug said. “Just continue to help the team and, you know, hopefully we can just continue to win and that’s something that can be, you know, pushed aside and I can think about later on in my career.”
But that’s not all Bruins players were able to achieve Wednesday. Pastrnak, for instance, tied famed Bruins center Barry Pederson for the most goals scored by a Bruin less than or equal to 22 years of age, each with 130 goals apiece.
As for Brad Marchand, the winger now has a career-high 97 points on the season, the first 90-plus point season for a Bruin since Marc Savard in the 2006-2007 campaign. Cassidy believes Marchand is one of the best offensive players and power-play catalysts on the team.
“We certainly view him as one of our best offensive players and one of our power-play catalysts, so I think that has a lot to do with it,” Cassidy said.
In fact, the trio of Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastrnak have scored a combined 200 goals over the last two seasons.
With five games left in the regular season, the Bruins still have plenty of time to add to their success.
