High-powered Bruins roll to Game 1 victory

Rick Nash and the Bruins’ high-scoring line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are off to a flying start in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Nash had two goals and Bergeron, Pastrnak and Marchand combined for 10 points Saturday, helping the Bruins pull away for a 6-2 victory over the host Lightning in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.

Bergeron also scored twice, Marchand had a goal and two assists, and Pastrnak finished with four assists in a dominating performance.

Tuukka Rask stopped 34 shots for the Bruins, who finished one point behind the Lightning for the Atlantic Division title, as well as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Dan Girardi and Mikhail Sergachev scored for the Lightning, who trailed 3-2 entering the third period.

Marchand and Bergeron hiked the Bruins’ advantage to three goals before Jake DeBrusk added an emptynetter with 6:19 remaining.

The Bruins had just 10 shots against Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy over the last two periods, but made the most of the limited opportunities.

Game 2 is Monday at Amalie Arena.

Rask won three of four starts against the Lightning during the regular season, night with the Lightning’s victory coming in the meeting.

Pastrnak assisted on each of the Bruins’ first three goals and added another on Bergeron’s third-period goal, giving him 12 helpers in eight playoff games.

Nash, meanwhile, got his second and third goals of the postseason, scoring on the power play at 17:11 of the opening period and 12:33 of the second to put the Bruins up 3-1. Sergachev countered on the power play, trimming the lead to 3-2.

Despite the Bruins’ run of goals, the Lightning actually outshot them 36-24. lone final

Hellebuyck shines: Connor Hellebuyck, a Vezina Trophy finalist as the NHL’s top goaltender, starred for the Jets in making 47 saves in Game 1 — a 4-1 win Friday night over the Predators in Nashville, Tenn.

In a breakout year for the 24-year-old, it was the kind of game that showed Winnipeg it has someone ready to take on the best in the West.

“There’s great difficulty in a lot of the saves and finding the puck in those scrums, but he’s built for that,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “He’s a big man that moves well and tracks well in traffic — especially close traffic. So he’s capable of that kind of game in that kind of environment.” AP