Ducks steamrolled by Pastrnak
Boston winger scores four goals as their trip ends on a loss. Steel returns to the lineup. BOSTON 4 DUCKS 2
BOSTON — David Pastrnak scored a career-high four goals Monday for his fifth career hat trick, leading the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 victory over the Ducks at TD Garden.
Pastrnak completed his hat trick with an unassisted goal off a faceoff. He stole the puck from defenseman Josh Manson and slipped a wrist shot between goalie John Gibson’s pads 2:20 into the third period to make it 3-1, prompting fans to throw hats on the ice.
The 23-year-old forward scored 2:14 later off a nice feed from Brad Marchand, who sent him a pass from the left circle. He was at the edge of the far post, where he redirected the puck into the net.
“Those are the kind of nights where the puck kind of finds you,” Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm said of Pastrnak. “He had one of those nights.”
Rickard Rakell and Adam Henrique scored for the Ducks, and Gibson made 19 saves. Rakell beat Jaroslav Halak with a wrist shot to the glove side, slicing it to 2-1 with 2:08 left in the second, and Henrique converted Nick Ritchie’s pass after Ritchie grabbed a loose puck from Halak behind the net with less than four minutes remaining.
The Ducks have lost two of three after winning their first three games this season. They finished 2-2 on their trip.
“If we get a bounce here or there, we could’ve won every game on this road trip,” Ducks defenseman Koplayed rbinian Holzer said.
“We played really well over the course of the trip. Even today, we needed time to settle in and get used to their style of play. After that, we played right up to their level, maybe even better at times. We were right there to tie it in the third with the power play. That’s the difference right now. We can’t score to tie the game, and they come back and score to make it 3-1.”
Ducks forward Sam Steel was activated from injured reserve, after an upper-body injury, before the game and 14 minutes.
“It’s really nice getting back in,” he said. “It was frustrating being out for a bit. It’s good to be back in, but would have been a lot better with a better result. You’re waiting all summer to get going into regular-season play, and to be held out gets a little frustrating.”
The Ducks had killed 15 of their first 16 penalties this season before Pastrnak’s power-play goal.
The line of Pastrnak, Marchand and Patrice Bergeron has accounted for 24 points, with Pastrnak collecting 10 and Marchand nine.
“We’ve been together a long time now,” Pastrnak said. “It’s kind of expected from us.”
Ducks defenseman Brendan Guhle was sidelined for the second straight game with a lower-body injury.