An injury to Philadelphia goaltender Steve Mason less than five minutes into the opening period of today’s game gave David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins the break they needed, as the Black and Gold pushed three by backup netminder Ray Emery for a 3-1 win at Wells Fargo Center.

In an eight-penalty first period, the Bruins struck first behind the first goal of Pastrnak’s NHL career, a backhanded power-play strike, with Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara picking up the assists.



The league’s youngest player wasn’t done with just the first marker of his career, however, as he put the Bruins out to a 2-0 lead on a great finish from an even sweeter David Krejci dish through the slot.

With the goal, Pastrnak became the second-youngest skater in Bruins history to record a two-goal game, accomplishing the feat 58 days older than Patrice Bergeron was when he scored two on Jan. 12, 2004. It took Bergeron 44 games to accomplish the feat. Pastrnak did it in just his seventh NHL game.

Boston pushed their lead out to 3-0 just five minutes after Pastrnak’s second, with Chris Kelly capitalizing on a beautiful dish from Loui Eriksson on a shorthanded 2-on-1.

The goal was Kelly’s fifth of the year, and honestly began with a great own-zone effort from Eriksson. After finding the puck on his stick, the 29-year-old Swede dished himself a sweet self-pass off the boards and around some Philly skaters, and broke free. It was a happy sight for a Bruins club that skated without Eriksson (wrist) in their last game, and put the nail in the coffin on the Flyers’ comeback chances.

Naturally, the Flyers made it a bit more of a game though, with Claude Giroux beating Tuukka Rask for his 14th goal of the season, cutting the B’s lead to just two.

Rask and company hung on, though, stopping 24-of-25 for the club’s third-straight victory.

Random thoughts

- It’s gonna be awfully hard to send David Pastrnak down, really.

In his seventh of nine games of his Boston trial, the Czech winger struck with two goals, and continued to make things happen with his speed. He likes shooting the puck, too, which his linemate, David Krejci, loves too. Discount Double Czechs.

- They don’t pay me for football analysis, but here you go-- I think the Patriots handle the Ravens with relative ease today. I think a lot of people have overrated the Ravens based on what they’ve done in the past and I still say that they don’t have the weapons to stop the New England offense, especially Rob Gronkowski. I like the Pats, 34-20. I also think the Panthers-Seahawks game is a lot closer than most seem to (I think Seattle wins, but only by three or four points), I’ll take the Colts over the Broncos, and the Packers over the Cowboys. Please note: I’m sorry if I just cursed your favorite football team.

Up next

The Bruins head back to Boston for the start of a three-game homestand. Up first, a Tuesday night showdown with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts have been one of the league’s top teams since the puck dropped on the 2014-15, and this will be the first of four meetings between the two Atlantic Division rivals this year.

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