David Pastrnak broke through with his first two goals of the season, and the Boston Bruins finally found their power-play touch in a 6-1 rout of the Utah Mammoth at TD Garden on Thursday.
Boston came into the night empty on its first 10 man-advantage opportunities through four games. It left with three power-play goals on four chances, with Pastrnak driving the turnaround by scoring twice and setting up another goal. The Bruins moved to 3-2-0, matching Utah’s record.
Morgan Geekie was in the middle of the special-teams surge as well, posting a goal and two assists, all with Boston on the power play. Jeremy Swayman handled the rest, stopping 36 shots in a busy night for the Bruins goaltender.
Boston takes control in the first
Casey Mittelstadt opened the scoring at 10:06 of the first period after Boston’s forecheck kept the puck in the Utah end. Mittelstadt worked into the left faceoff circle and snapped a short-side shot past Sebastian Cossa for a 1-0 lead.
Pastrnak doubled the margin at 14:22 on the power play. From the top of the right circle, he fired a quick wrist shot through traffic and between Cossa’s pads.
Mason Lohrei made it 3-0 only 1:29 later. The defenseman collected the puck near the offensive blue line, drove down the right wing, cut toward the crease and beat Cossa with a wrist shot to the stick side.
Utah made the goaltending change after Lohrei’s goal. Cossa gave up three goals on eight shots, while Karel Vejmelka came on in relief and finished with 11 saves.
Power play turns the game into a runaway
Pastrnak struck again 4:40 into the second period. Geekie delivered a cross-ice saucer pass, and Pastrnak hammered a one-timer over Vejmelka’s glove to put Boston ahead 4-0.
Geekie added Boston’s third power-play goal at 7:57, extending the lead to five. Matthew Poitras then finished a play created by Pastrnak at 14:08, giving the Bruins a 6-0 cushion after two periods.
For Pastrnak, the two-goal, two-assist night gave Boston the kind of finishing it had been missing early in the schedule. Geekie’s three-point performance supplied another boost to a unit that had failed to convert before Thursday.
Swayman shuts down Utah advantage
The Mammoth arrived in Boston with the NHL’s top power play, having converted eight times in 13 opportunities for a 61.5 percent rate. The Bruins penalty kill blanked Utah on all seven chances, a major swing in a game decided early.
Jack McBain spoiled Swayman’s shutout bid at 9:48 of the third period, scoring his first point of the season to close the scoring at 6-1.
Swayman’s 36 saves preserved Boston’s commanding lead and helped the Bruins turn a difficult special-teams start into a statement night at home.
