Pastrnak the Bruins’ shooting star in overtime
Bruins 3 Stars 2
DALLAS — In a state famous for drilling, drilling, and drilling some more, the Bruins saw their grit and persistence pay off Tuesday night, finally tapping the American Airlines Center surface for 2 points on David Pastrnak’s goal with 1:16 to go in overtime for a 3-2 win over the Stars.
Pastrnak, set up by Charlie McAvoy’s dish at three on three, drove his winner (goal No. 39) by ex-Boston University goalie Jake Oettinger, a little more than a minute after the Bruins killed a two-minute power play.
The stage was set for the win, only their second in their last six games (2-3-1), when Pavel Zacha delivered the 2-2 equalizer 10:12 into the third period, after the Stars had moved to the 2-1 advantage on Jason Robertson’s goal early in the second period.
The win left the Bruins with a league-best mark of 40-8-5 through 53 games, making them the first club this season to reach the 40-win plateau. Linus Ullmark (29 saves) improved his record to 27-4-1,the most wins he’s recorded in a season.
“We deserved better after the first period. Oettinger had a lot to say in that,” noted Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, crediting the goalie for some dazzling saves in the early going. “And I thought we even deserved better in the third. I thought [Dallas] was struggling to reach the red line in the last 10 minutes — we just kept pouring it on.”
Montgomery referred a number of times postgame to the “struggles” his team overcame through the night. One of them was a particularly awful time at the faceoff dot, where the Bruins won only 19 percent of the puck drops.
According to league headquarters, it was the lowest success rate the Bruins have had at the dot since faceoff records were first recorded in 1997-98. Prior to Tuesday night, the low mark for the Bruins came Oct. 4, 1999, when they won only 24.6 percent of the faceoffs.
“Sometimes you feel it’s coming,” said Pastrnak, referring to his winner. “And sometimes you feel it’s going to be one of these days nothing’s going to go in. In the end it came. We were positive the whole game.”
Unable to gain a lead at any point during their 2-1 loss Saturday to the Capitals, the Bruins jumped out front early Tuesday night with Taylor Hall’s goal at 10:33 of the first.
Hampus Lindholm generated the scoring play with a strong rush deep into the zone, fending off a check along the rear wall before centering the puck toward the right post.
Ex-Bruins defenseman Colin
Miller, who departed via the Vegas expansion draft, left the net front unprotected in a failed attempt to help filch the puck away from Lindholm along the wall. Lindholm’s feed made it directly to Hall’s stick and he made quick work of a doorstep forehander to beat Oettinger.
The Stars spent most of the first period fending off Bruins chances (15 total), but did pull even, 1-1, on what was initially a broken play, Joe Pavelski failing to get the puck from right wing to the oncoming Robertson. But Roope Hintz raced into the middle and promptly swept a backhander by Ullmark from the mid-slot.
The Bruins entered the night in an 0-for-17 tailspin on the power play over their previous five games. They failed with their first chance on the power play here, unable to land a shot on net for the full two minutes. They did generate a Grade A chance, a blistering shot from Zacha on the No. 2 powerplay unit, but it rang off the right post.They finished 0 for 3 on the advantage.
The Stars, as expected, picked up their game in the second period, though still found it a struggle to put pucks on net. However, their eighth attempt of the night provided the 2-1 lead, a strike by Robertson with 4:17 gone in the period.
Robertson, working a give-and-go with Pavelski, recollected the puck in the left circle after dishing to Pavelski along the half-wall. The lead held up for the remaining 15:43 of the period.
The Bruins were fortunate the damage wasn’t worse in the second, especially after back-to-back penalties to McAvoy and Connor Clifton set up the Stars with a five-on-three advantage for a stretch of 57 seconds, beginning at the 16:18 mark.
Ullmark faced three shots over the duration of the two penalties, including one off Pavelski at his doorstep that rookie Wyatt Johnston set up with a sharp slap pass high in the right circle.
The game temperature moved higher in the second, and it ended with Clifton smacking hard into Ty Dellandrea as the horn blew to start the intermission.
Clifton, game to game, delivers some of the club’s stiffest checks (think: Saturday on Garnet Hathaway). He’s not built like Kevan Miller, but he brings a similar thump — a quality the Bruins have sought ever since Miller retired.