The Bruins may be hot, but their top line is hotter.
Boston cruised to a 7-4 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday despite a late-game surge by New York.
The Bruins found themselves in a 1-0 hole after the first 20 minutes, but Boston’s top line came to the rescue. Brad Marchand (two goals, three assists), Patrice Bergeron (hat trick) and David Pastrnak (five assists) combined for 13 points Sunday, potting three of the four goals scored in the B’s second-period onslaught. It was an incredible night, to say the least, for a line that’s already impressed to start the 2019-20 season.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy has watched this top line mature, and he’s pleased with their progress.
“I think they’ve grown,” Cassidy told NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley after the game, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “If you look at (Pastrnak), he’s probably (been) a rush guy for a long time. Now he’s learned how to play off the cycle … My guess is (Bergeron) has played well in every phase since he got here. (Marchand) was probably a little more a forechecker originally because he played down on the lineup, so they had to play behind the (defense) to generate offense. So I think in that regard, and they’re deadly no matter how you slice it.”
It’s no secret Boston’s “perfection line” has been living up to the recent hype. Pastrnak currently leads the league with 23 points, while Brad Marchand is in fourth with 20. The top line has scored 23 of the team’s 31 goals, with Pastrnak scoring 11 of them on his own.
It’s still early in the season, so there’s still plenty of time for something to go awry. But with the way things are going at the moment, this line has the potential to produce some monstrous numbers.
Here are some more notes from Sunday’s Bruins-Rangers game:
— Bergeron’s hat trick Sunday was the fifth of his career.
And while he center remained his humble self when discussing it after the game, he did take a second to soak up the moment.
“Yeah, (it’s still special),” he told NESN’s Sophia Jurksztowicz after the game, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “It was a very unselfish play by Brad (Marchand) … I thought it was a great effort by everyone. When we’re all contributing like that, that’s when we get results.”
— Marchand is red hot to start the 2019-20 season.
The winger extended his point streak to 10 games Sunday with the fifth five-point game of his career. He currently has seven goals, 13 assists and a plus-11 rating on the season.
— The hometown boy got himself on the board.
Charlie Coyle netted his first goal of the 2019-20 season amidst the Bruins’ four-point onslaught in the second period. The Weymouth, Mass., native had an assist in Sunday’s game, as well.
— He might not have scored, but David Pastrnak continued to put up numbers nonetheless.
Pastrnak has been on fire this season with 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in his last nine games. Over the last 82 games, he’s scored 99 goals and notched 108 assists for a whopping 207 points.
— There was, however, one downside for the Bruins in victory.
Par Lindholm left Sunday’s game after taking a hit up high. The team has called it an upper-body injury but did not release any further information.
