By: Tom Calautti | Follow me on Twitter/X @TCalauttis
Mark Kastelic scored two first-period goals, and Jeremy Swayman recorded his second shutout of the season as the Bruins exorcised the Devils for their 45th victory of the season. The Black and Gold reached the 100-point plateau for the first time since the 2023-24 season.
“Pretty amazing, I gotta say,” said head coach Marco Sturm of the team’s season-ending accomplishment. “I’m so proud of (the team), proud of my coaching staff, the whole staff to accomplish, again, 100 points, it’s incredible. So I’m very, very happy and very excited to reach that goal and share it with our great fans of Boston.”
The B’s took control of this one on just the second shift of the game. After a solid forechecking shift for the newly formed ‘kid line’ (Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, and James Hagens) David Pastrnak found a wide open Morgan Geekie in the low slot and the surging winger (five goals in his last four games) snapped it past Devils goaltender Nico Daws for the game’s opening tally.
With the primary assist on Geekie’s goal, David pastrnak reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth straight season. He joins franchise icons Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito as the only others in team history to achieve that mark.
“Just a full team effort. I think from day one, we were saying we were tight, you could feel it,” said Pastrnak of the team’s chemistry this season. “It didn’t take us long to get together, get tied as a group, understand we have to play for each other…So I think the way we came together right away from day one, you could sense it. But at the end of the day, it’s a full team effort.”
That full team effort was on display in last night’s victory as three different lines found the back of the net. Kastelic scored two straight goals at the 6:14 and 17:42 marks of the first frame to increase the lead to 3-0. The goals were Kastelic’s 11th and 12th of the season, giving him new career-highs in goals, assists (10), and points (22).
Viktor Arvidsson added the proverbial cherry on top with a buzzer-beating tally eight seconds before the period expired. The goal was Arvidsson’s 25th of the season and was assisted by Pavel Zacha, who registered his career-high 65th point of the season.
Zacha was not on Boston’s bench to begin the second period. He and fellow linemate Casey Mittelstadt (who didn’t dress) missed the game for ‘personal reasons,’ and Sturm said they would be ready for game one of the postseason.
James Hagens made his TD Garden debut as a member of the Boston Bruins. Although he didn’t make his way onto the scoresheet, he put together a solid effort playing 15:58 and notching one shot on goal and three takeaways. When asked about his potential to start in the playoffs, Sturm said, “(He) played well again today. He felt way more comfortable, I felt like today. He will be a good one. I think everyone could see it. Did a lot of good things. And yeah, I like what I saw in the last two games. That’s for sure.”
With the victory last night, the Bruins have officially clinched the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They will take on the Buffalo Sabres in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Game Notes:
- Sean Kuraly had assists on both Kastelic goals and now has 1-4-5 in his past two games.
- Mason Lohrei and Hampus Lindholm were both +4 on the night.
- Fraser Minten was awarded the NESN 7th Player award ahead of last night’s game.
- Arvidsson’s 25 goals are the most he’s scored in a season since 2022-23.
- Eight different Bruins finished this season with a career-high in points (Geekie, Zacha, Charlie McAvoy, Minten, Khusnutdinov, Kastelic, Alex Steeves, and Jonathan Aspirot).
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