The Boston Bruins certainly had their work cut out for them Tuesday night against the Dallas Stars.
The Stars applied the pressure throughout all three regulation periods, keeping Boston off the scoreboard fairly effectively despite the fact that the Bruins out-shot them.
While it appeared as though that trend would ultimately result in a fifth loss in their last six games, the Bruins’ defensive patience was rewarded with a few late-game heroics from wings Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak. The pair delivered the game-tying and game-winning goals, respectively, to cap off a 3-2 thriller at American Airlines Arena.
Pastrnak, who netted the overtime game-winner, was satisfied with kicking off the road trip in victorious fashion.
“It was a tough game, a playoff feel and these are the game that we’re gonna see down the road so obviously a big team win and way to start the road trip,” Pastrnak said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “… Really proud of our group. We came back and it’s not easy to come back on the road, especially against a good team like Dallas.”
With momentum at what seemed to be an all-time low, the Bruins had their backs against the wall against a Dallas team that they beat handily on Oct. 25 in Boston. Head coach Jim Montgomery reflected on what he also described as a “playoff game” against the Stars.
“There was a lot to overcome,” Montgomery said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “As well as we were playing, the scoreboard wasn’t reflecting it and we had to overcome a lot. And that’s a playoff game where you gotta ride the momentum waves, you gotta handle some adversity that doesn’t come your way and then you gotta persist and overcome that.”
Boston came up empty on three power play opportunities, hitting a complete offensive drought following Taylor Hall’s game-opening goal in the first period.
“When you look at the struggles we’ve had here in the last five to six games, to have a game like this where it seemed like everything was going against us,” Montgomery said. “We had to kill off a five-on-three, we had to kill off a four-on-three, but I loved the way we played hard for each other.
Montgomery also notched his 100th career win as an NHL head coach in the process.
Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Bruins-Stars game:
— Zacha, who supplied the equalizer in the third period that provided new life for the Bruins, scored seven goals on 23 shots with five assists in his last 11 games. Through that stretch, the 25-year-old also notched a plus-eight rating.
“He showed up big,” Pastrnak said. “… Heck of a game by him. He stepped up, first of all tying the game and then in overtime, winning the battle, kind of skated out of the D-zone. So he stepped up big and was great today.”
— Pastrnak scored in two of his last five games for the Bruins while also totaling three points.
— Linus Ullmark, who made 29 saves against the Stars, has now done so in his last three games.
“Today was a statement game for us,” Ullmark said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “And now we’re looking forward to going to Nashville and playing yet another great team.”
— Boston improved to 26-0-3 in games where it scores first.
— The Bruins are off Wednesday but will return to the ice Thursday night for a matchup against the Nashville Predators. Puck drop at Bridgestone Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, along with a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
