Boston Bruins: 5 Studs From a 7-5 Win Over the Penguins

With their backs against the wall after the first period Saturday afternoon and trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1-0, the Boston Bruins had an offensive onslaught in the final 40 minutes to rally for a 7-5 victory at the TD Garden.

Boston had plenty of players step up to secure two big points in the standings. Here are five Bruins’ studs from Saturday’s victory.

1. Brad Marchand

Where else is there to go? Three goals, two in the second period during the Bruins’ five-goal outburst, and the empty net clinching goal with 1:01 left in the third period. He also picked up an assist in the second period, with a picture-perfect pass to David Krejci at the side of the net on the power play for a 4-3 lead.

Marchand finished with a plus-4 and six shots on the net in the win. Where would the Bruins be without Marchand right now?

2. David Pastrnak

After going goalless in his last five games, Pasta broke out of his slump in a big way and at the right time Saturday. He gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead in the second period when he scored off a deflection of Nick Ritchie’s leg. In the third period, he scored the game-winning goal when Ritchie won a battle at the Pittsburgh blue line, broke in 2-on-1 with Pastrnak.

Ritchie drew the defensemen to him and laid a perfect pass to Pastrnak who buried a wrist shot under the crossbar. He should have been credited with a hat trick late in the third period after stealing the puck from Kris Letang in the Pens end and getting hooked trying to score into an open net, but just a minor penalty was called.

Getting Pastrnak scoring is going to be key for the Bruins going forward.

3. David Krejci

Krejci scored his second goal of the season at the end of the second period on the power play after assisting on Pastrnak’s goal earlier in the period to give Boston their first lead. Krejci finished 8-for-14 on faceoffs.

4. Patrice Bergeron

Bergeron got the scoring started with the Bruins’ first goal 11 seconds into the second period, but it was the little things he did that helped. He had four shots on the net, four takeaways, but more importantly, he was 16-for-21 on faceoffs.

5. Charlie McAvoy

Once again, the Bruins’ top defensemen led the team in time-on-ice at 25:24, but he also chipped in with a key assist and was steady in the defensive end all game long. He set up Marchand for his second goal of the second period with 20 seconds left. After Bergeron won a faceoff in the offensive end, McAvoy fed Marchy a perfect pass and he beat Penguins’ goal Casey DeSmoth under the crossbar for a two-goal lead at 5-3.

Following an off-day Sunday, the Bruins close out their seven-game homestand Monday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.