David Pastrnak scored his 61st goal with nine minutes left in regulation as the Boston Bruins completed their record-breaking regular season with a 5-4 win over the host Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
Pastrnak and Dmitry Orlov each finished with a goal and an assist for Boston (65-12-5, 135 points), which scored twice in the final frame to emerge with its eighth consecutive win.
Trent Frederic, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins.
Pastrnak tipped home Orlov’s feed while open on the back post to make a winner out of goaltender Jeremy Swayman.
The goal allowed Boston to tie the NHL record for most road wins in a regular season (31).
Michael Pezzetta led Montreal (31-45-6, 68 points) with a goal and an assist.
Lucas Condotta scored the game-opening goal on the first shift of his NHL career, while Nick Suzuki and Justin Barron added tallies of their own for the Canadiens.
Sam Montembeault took Montreal’s third straight loss to end the season.
Montreal poured on four of the first five shots and took a 1-0 lead at the 3:26 mark. Following Pezzetta’s shot from above the left circle, Condotta buried a rebound that popped into the air just outside the blue paint.
The visitors tied the score at 9:19. After Pastrnak forced a turnover on the right side, Frederic tipped Connor Clifton’s shot into an open net from the doorstep.
At 14:40, DeBrusk moved the score in Boston’s favor as he slipped home a tight-angle shot after Charlie McAvoy made a backhand pass from behind the goal line.
The Canadiens scored tying and go-ahead goals in a span of 1:08 in the second. First, Suzuki tipped in Joel Edmundson’s point shot at 7:16.
Pezzetta took advantage of a fortuitous play to put Montreal ahead at 8:24. After a rimmed puck bounced off Pastrnak’s stick at the blue line, Rem Pitlick chipped it up the boards and Swayman misplayed it in the left corner. Pitlick dished to Pezzetta for a tap-in into an open cage.
Orlov brought the Bruins back even with 6:02 left in the middle frame, scoring a top-shelf goal from along the end line on the left side after receiving a feed from Jakub Lauko.
Barron scored Montreal’s fourth goal on a short-handed chance in the slot to make it a 4-3 game at 1:09 of the third. Coyle knotted the score at 4-4 as he cut through the left circle and roofed a shot from out front.
–Field Level Media
