Pastrnak scores twice as Bruins crush Flyers
PHILADELPHIA — David Pastrnak had two goals and an assist, James van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist and the Boston Bruins routed the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 on Saturday in the final game for both teams before the NHL All-Star break.
Charlie McAvoy, Danton Heinen and Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston, which has won seven of eight. The Atlantic Division-leading Bruins entered play tied with Vancouver for the most points in the NHL. They now have 71. Linus Ullmark made 35 saves, and Pavel Zacha added two assists for Boston.
“Amazing,” Pastrnak said of the finish to the first half of the season. “We were talking about it a lot to make sure we finished strong before the break.”
Tyson Foerster scored both goals for Philadelphia, which lost its fifth game in a row.
Owen Tippett (lower body) missed his fourth straight game one day after signing an 8-year, $49.6 million extension. The Flyers also were without goalie Carter Hart, who took an indefinite leave of absence from the team on Tuesday.
Sam Ersson was pulled Saturday after allowing four goals on 14 shots in the first period. Cal Petersen replaced him to start the second period and made 12 saves.
“You have some good weeks, and you have some struggles,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “We’re having some struggles now. We’ve just got to try to put our head down and see if we can solve some problems and get better.”
Pastrnak, who will play in his fourth All-Star Game, continued
his dominance of the Flyers. He has 11 goals and six assists during a seven-game point streak against Philadelphia and 42 points in 29 career games versus the Flyers. Pastrnak loves coming to Philly, where the NHL draft was held in 2014 when the Bruins selected him No. 25 overall.
“This is where my dream started, so always fun for me to come back to this building,” he said. “Obviously, it’s mentally positive coming in here.”
The game was scoreless until Pastrnak converted on a wrist shot with 5:51 left in the first, starting a flurry of four goals in 4:14. McAvoy netted his seventh 1:37 later from the side of the crease after a crossice setup from Zacha.
Heinen made it 3-0 when he scored on a deflection of Brandon Carlo’s shot from long range. Officials confirmed the goal after video review showed that Heinen did not play the puck with a high stick. Pastrnak recorded his second of the contest and team-leading 33rd goal with 1:37 left from in front to make it 4-0.
“They score the first one after we have three or four really good chances, and I just think it affected us,” Tortorella said.
The Bruins continued where they left off in the first period after the intermission when van Riemsdyk scored 1:15 into the second on an assist from Pastrnak’s pass from behind the net to make it a five-goal lead. The assist upped Pastrank’s team-best points total to 72.
“He’s a game-breaker, right?” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “And he gives us an advantage that, in close games, we can win them.”