Boston Bruins: Ranking David Pastrnak’s career hat-tricks
By Luke Ryan
March 27, 2019 versus New York Rangers
It’s hard to rate this lowest of all David Pastrnak’s hat-tricks, especially as he came away not only with 3 goals but also 2 assists for a five-point night.
However, given the lack of real importance this game held, what with the New York Rangers clearly committed to trialling their youth en-route to a Draft Lottery pick.
Add in that the Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket for the Atlantic Division had been all but set in stone since January, it’s fair to say the game had somewhat of a forgone conclusion.
This was his third hat-trick of the season though and thus deserves some definite plaudits.
The first goal was a snipe from the the face-off dot on the left after some very controlled setup on the power-play. One of those ‘bread and butter’ type goals you expect to be scored nine times out of ten, though this was against Henrik Lundqvist, so there’s never any guarantees.
His second goal came on the back of some strong work from Jake Debrusk, who ensured he gained the zone before sliding the puck across suitably late to leave Pastrnak with a gaping net. He made no mistake in burying the puck home to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 lead.
A power-play led to the third goal, a strong shot from the point that ended up just squeaking by the Rangers goalie, who initially looked to have stopped it with his body. Unfortunately for Lundqvist, it took the deflection off and past him, ending up in the net.
With David Pastrnak also assisting on two more goals as the Bruins routed the Rangers 6-3, it’s safe to say it was a memorable night and at marked the first time a Boston Bruins player had tallied three or more hat-tricks in a season since Cam Neely did so in the 1987-88 season.