B's Return Home With Their Moms & Beat the Jets 5-4 Thanks to Pasta's 3rd Hat Trick of the Season

NHL teams figured out years ago that one of the keys to break up the grind of the regular season was to plan fun things like a moms trip and a dads trip at different times in the calendar. It's a simple but also brilliant concept for the players to bond with their family members who they probably don't get to see that much anymore yet all had a key role in them becoming professional athletes. Boston (26-8-11) had their mothers (and Charlie Coyle's sister) with them in Nashville (20-16-7) for Tuesday's rousing 6-2 victory and they were back with their boys at TD Garden tonight for a thrilling 5-4 win vs. Winnipeg (24-17-4). David Pastrnak notched his seventh career hat trick and third in 45 games this season, boosting his NHL-leading goal total to 35 which is insane.

In many ways, this was a schedule loss for the Jets since they had beaten the Maple Leafs (24-15-6) 4-3 in a shootout last night in Toronto then dragged their weary bones here for their third game in four nights. They also were starting backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit (4-5-0, 31 saves) who is a borderline NHLer at best. They don't have a ton of depth-hence why they are clinging to the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with Calgary (23-17-5) and Vancouver (23-17-4) breathing down their necks-but Winnipeg does possess some high-end talent. Their top forward line of Kyle Connor (goal, assist), Mark Scheifele (goal, assist) and Patrik Laine (assist) is one of the best in the league.

Zdeno Chara was a last minute scratch from the lineup as he nurses an infection with his surgically-repaired robojaw. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy noted that the captain is in serious pain (but still had to be talked into sitting out by Cassidy & GM Don Sweeney) and he has a follow-up appointment with a doctor tomorrow but they hope to have him on the upcoming road trip. The Jets scored first as Connor roofed a backhander past Jaroslav Halak (17 saves, 10-4-5) at 7:35 of the first period. Nikolaj Ehlers and Scheifele had the assists on Connor's team-leading 22nd goal of the season. Chris Wagner (game-high 7 shots on goal) had a breakaway but he was stopped by Brossoit before crashing painfully into the post. He was pulled by the concussion spotter but returned to Boston's bench to start the second period. Pastrnak tied it at 17:14 with a one-timer from Joakim Nordstrom. Sean Kuraly had the other assist as Pasta got some minutes with the fourth liners when Wagner was out. David has a 12-game point streak (9 goals, 10 assists) with 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in his last 22 games.

Tied at one going into the second period, things really opened up with both clubs scoring a pair of goals. Andrew Copp tipped in a shot by Josh Morrissey for his 7th goal of the season (100th NHL point) at 6:00. Ehlers had the secondary assist, giving him eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last six games. You run out of ways to describe all the absurd goals scored by Pastrnak and his second one was a doozy as he destroyed a one-timer from Torey Krug and Brad Marchand for a power-play goal to tie it at two at 9:41. Jake DeBrusk got a step on everyone and delivered by picking the top corner with a forehand shot on a breakaway for his 12th goal of the season and a 3-2 Bruins advantage at 18:49. Boston's first lead was short-lived though as good old Neal Pionk (who?) scored a power play goal of his own at 19:52. His fourth goal of the season was assisted by ex-Bruin Blake Wheeler (17 points in 21 career games vs. Boston) and Laine (100th career NHL assist). It was 3-3 after two periods but it felt like Boston should be ahead since they had outshot the Jets 24-14.

You would expect tired legs to finally catch up with Winnipeg in the third period but at least initially, they did not as Scheifele banked a shot from behind the goal-line off Halak and in at 7:50 for a 4-3 lead. Scheifele's 22nd goal of the season was assisted by Connor and Dmitry Kulikov. Pasta tied it (because of course he did) after a nifty backhand feed from David Krejci. DeBrusk had the second helper on the memorable goal at 11:13 that sent all the Bruins hats raining down on the Garden ice. After the extended break to clear the hats, the fans didn't have to sit down for long as DeBrusk re-directed a shot by Charlie McAvoy 33 seconds later. Matt Grzelcyk had the other assist on the game-winning tally that gave DeBrusk nine points (6 goals, 3 assists) in his last 10 games.

It sounds silly with a seven-point lead over Tampa Bay (26-13-4) in the Atlantic Division but this was a very important two points for the B's since the Lightning blanked the Coyotes (25-17-4) 4-0 this evening and they are the hottest team in the NHL with nine straight wins (and 2 games in hand). Toronto (24-15-6) is also playing great since they fired head coach Mike Babcock: they are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games and nine points behind Boston. With the regular season more than halfway through, the Black and Gold should get used to life on the road as they only have 15 contests left at the Garden.

They head out tomorrow for a three-game trip against Metropolitan Division opponents starting with a visit to the Barclays Center on Saturday night (7, NESN) to face the Islanders (27-12-3). They are off on Sunday (when they should have been watching the Pats visit the Chiefs, sigh) but get a tricky back-to-back on Monday (7, NESN) at Philadelphia (23-15-6) followed by Columbus (21-15-8) the next night (7, NESN) to wrap things up. Boston's next home game is a week from tonight (7, NESN) against Pittsburgh (26-12-5) who has played well lately (7-2-1 in their last 10 games) even with superstar Sidney Crosby out for an extended period of time with a core muscle injury.

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McAvoy Celebrates His 20th Birthday the Only Way He Knows How: By Winning a Hockey Game

I find it hard to fathom that many people have had a more memorable 20th birthday on this Earth than Bruins rookie stud Charlie McAvoy. He is not only one of the best young defensemen in the NHL but also one of the most electric players in general so it made perfect sense that he would play a key role in tonight's 2-1 shootout win vs. Winnipeg (20-10-6) at TD Garden. With the game on his stick in the fourth round (after Winnipeg's Nikolaj Ehlers hit the post), McAvoy calmly fired a low shot past former UMass Lowell legend Connor Hellebuyck (32 saves).

The Jets have been one of the pleasant surprises in the NHL this season and even with this shootout loss, they are still tied with Nashville (21-8-4) and St. Louis (20-10-6) for first place in the Western Conference's mighty Central Division. Winnipeg's captain and leading scorer is old friend Blake Wheeler (9 goals, 32 assists) who unbeknownst to probably most of his haters in Boston has completely transformed his game into one of the top American players in the league. Tuukka Rask (season-high 37 saves, 10th win of the season) and Hellebuyck had the hockey equivalent of a pitcher's duel going as they went through the first two periods without allowing a goal.

Winnipeg superstar Patrik Laine hit the post in the first period with one of his patented snipes and you'll here more from him in a moment. Bruins defenseman Torey Krug finally broke the ice with an unassisted goal (his 6th of the season) at 8:16 of the third period. A loose puck was flung in his direction by a silly Jets defenseman and Krug made him pay with a blast from the point that finally eluded Hellebuyck. Less than a minute later (9:13 to be exact), Laine tied it up with his team-leading 18th goal of the season. Boston was in scramble mode and that's never a place you want to be in with Laine in your vicinity. He beat Rask top-shelf, assisted by Ehlers and Thrasher/Jet for life Bryan Little.

When it was officially going to overtime, you had to laugh since Boston was 1-4 in the extra frame this season which was a better record than Winnipeg's stinky 0-5. Both teams had some golden opportunities in overtime (Winnipeg outshot Boston 6-4 then and 38-33 for the entire contest) but ultimately this had to be decided by that cheesy format. Little went first for the Jets and scored while Marchand (playing through a nasty flu virus that forced teammates Riley Nash and Ryan Spooner to sit out tonight's action) was stopped. Laine couldn't find the back of the net again vs. his fellow Finn and David Pastrnak tied it up. Mark Scheifele and Patrice Bergeron couldn't convert in round three which sent it to round four.

The B's have a good thing going right now-7-2-1 in their last 10 games-and they have pulled within two points of the Leafs (21-14-1) for second-place in the Atlantic Division with a whopping three games in hand. Boston has one more tilt before Christmas break (when every club gets 3 days off) as they host sputtering Detroit (13-14-7) on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). A win there would be the perfect way to send the team into the holidays. David Krejci missed his third game in a row which meant that rookie center Colby Cave was an emergency recall from Providence this afternoon and he became the third Bruin to make his NHL debut this season (joining Anders Bjork and Jake DeBrusk). It's a tough call which Bruins goaltender should get the start against the Red Wings since Rask is 7-0-1 in his last eight games and backup Anton Khudobin is coming off a 36-save shutout of the pitiful Sabres (8-19-7) on Tuesday. Anything can happen in wacky Saturday afternoon games but whoever Cassidy chooses, shouldn't find it too difficult to get another two points for the Black and Gold.

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