Boston Bruins
“Us older guys need to be there for them and give them as much experience as we can, so they can elevate their game every single day.”
Be it a tipped puck sailing into twine, a jammed-home rebound, or a bouncing biscuit knocked in by the opposing netminder, David Pastrnak was going to welcome any offensive-zone fortune that fell his way on Thursday.
Through the first four games of the Bruins’ 2026-27 season, Pastrnak and Boston’s veteran core haven’t exactly impressed — the Bruins have scored just two total goals in back-to-back losses to the Wild and Senators.
And Pastrnak (0 goals, 2 assists), Morgan Geekie (0 goals, 1 assist), Pavel Zacha (0 points), and Casey Mittelstadt (0 points) were among the main culprits in Boston’s extended scoring drought.
As frustrating as the lack of results was for Boston’s big guns, Geekie wasn’t fretting over a quiet start to an 84-game campaign.
“Everyone seems to have had chances in this room and just can’t seem to put them in,” Geekie acknowledged. “I mean, Pav has had three posts in the last two games, and just everyone’s had opportunities to score and just can’t seem to see them go in.”
Those chances were cashed in aplenty on Thursday night at TD Garden.
Behind a four-point night from Pastrnak (two goals, two assists), the Bruins’ offense emerged from its brief hibernation with a 6-1 win over the Mammoth.
In total, 11 different Bruins players logged at least a point in the win, while Boston’s power play snapped an ugly 0-for-10 showing to open the year with a 3-for-4 outburst.
Meanwhile, a Utah power play that cashed in on eight of its first 13 opportunities this season was stymied by a Bruins’ PK that went a perfect 7-for-7 on the night.
”That’s the beauty of hockey, right,” Pastrnak — who tied Brad Marchand for the fourth-most goals in Bruins franchise history on Thursday — noted. “One night, it doesn’t go your way. Next night, you are nearly perfect.”
Pastrnak’s awaited offensive breakthrough, a three-point night from Geekie, and a resurgent power play were all welcome developments for Marco Sturm’s club.
But perhaps the most welcome contributions came from Boston’s influx of younger skaters — a group that will carry much of the weight in how fruitful this current retool is.
Some of the usual suspects like Pastrnak and Geekie might have lit the lamp early and often against Utah. But Boston’s first three goals of the evening — scored in a 5:45 stretch in the opening frame — were all orchestrated by fresh-faced skaters.
The primary assist on those three goals from Mittelstadt, Pastrnak, and Mason Lohrei came off the sticks of 19-year-old James Hagens, 23-year-old Frederic Brunet, and 22-year-old Matt Poitras.
Brunet — handed the keys to Boston’s power play — recorded his first NHL point with the set-up on Pastrnak’s first tally on the man advantage.
Pastrnak wasn’t going to need a greasy goal after all in order to snap his scoring drought, with Brunet teeing up the Bruins captain for a heavy wrister that sailed into twine.
The rookie made a heads-up play, keeping the puck in the offensive zone off a face-off, drawing Nick Schmaltz off of Pastrnak, then feeding the puck back to the Bruins’ star forward for a clean look at the net.
“It was great,” Sturm said of Brunet’s power-play contributions. “[He] made that one play there on the power play when David scored. It was pretty impressive, actually, [being] under pressure on the blue line from a young kid who’s been on that unit for a few days. It was nice to see. But overall, what a great game again from him — and we’re happy too that he had his first NHL point as a Bruin.”
Sturm’s lineup reshuffling led to Boston’s first goal, with third-line center Elias Lindholm forcing a turnover after Utah tried to carry the puck out of its own zone. Hagens scooped the puck up and fed it to Mittelstadt to draw first blood against Utah.
Hagens now has three points (2 goals, one assist) in his first five games of the season.
Poitras — skating in his second game as Boston’s fourth-line center — chipped in with two points. After feeding the puck up high to Lohrei before the blueliner’s eventual tally, Poitras buried his own goal in the second period.
On a rush with Pastrnak, Poitras snapped the winger’s feed past netminder Karel Vejmelka to make it 6-0.
Poitras couldn’t celebrate his multi-point contributions with a smile. A ricocheting puck rode up and struck him square in the jaw during the game, forcing him to get five stitches across his lip during the opening period.
But after the game, the young pivot welcomed the chance to log a few reps alongside a player of Pastrnak’s caliber.
“Obviously he’s just an unbelievable player, and when you get the opportunity, just gotta be ready,” Poitras said. “Because I feel like he just sees everything out there. … He’ll always always find you.”
Strum, Pastrnak, and the rest of the Bruins can exhale after Boston’s sluggish start in the offensive zone.
The next task is carrying that momentum into Saturday’s matinee against a desperate Flyers team (0-3-2).
Boston’s top stars like Pastrnak will have to lead the charge. But as evidenced by Thursday’s lopsided win, the Bruins’ crop of youngsters are also more than capable of pulling their own weight in the offensive zone.
“Bruno made a heck of a play on my goal,” Pastrnak said. “Beat two guys with a nice move and pass. Potsy — great shot. James is having nice touches and good looks. So it’s fun. It’s important. They’re a big part of our team, and we need them.
“Us older guys need to be there for them and give them as much experience as we can, so they can elevate their game every single day. They’re great kids and great hockey players. So we need to make sure we help them and keep getting better.”
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