With history on the line, the Boston Bruins leaned on their best player to make it happen. David Pastrnak entered the night with 57 goals and made sure that he made his mark on a record-setting night.
Pastrnak scored a hat trick to reach the 60-goal mark, as the Bruins recorded their 63rd win of the season to set an NHL record in a 5-3 result over the Flyers on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center. It was the Flyers seventh straight loss.
It took just 47 seconds for the Bruins to get on the board. Charlie Coyle fired a one-timer home for his 15th goal of the season off a feed from Connor Carrick to make it 1-0.
The lead was short-lived, as the Flyers got on the board off a fortunate bounce. Wade Allison took a shot that Jeremy Swayman stopped, but couldn’t control with his glove or his stick. As Connor Clifton went to play the puck away from the crease, Allison stayed with the play and got his stick on it to direct it into the net for his ninth goal of the season at 1:04.
The rest of the period featured no goals, but plenty of scoring chances for both sides. Shots through 20 minutes were 13-10 Boston.
Just 2:04 into the second, the Bruins got the lead back with their leading scorer taking charge. Pastrnak fired a shot from the high slot that beat Felix Sandstrom through the five-hole to make it 2-1 for his 58th goal of the season.
At 4:40, Pastrnak appeared to have another goal, but it was disallowed for incidental contact with the goalie by Clifton. A Boston challenge was unsuccessful, leading to a Flyers power play.
Shortly after the power play expired, Pastrnak was back on the board with another one-timer, scoring his 59th goal of the season to make it 3-1 at 7:31.
The Flyers cut the lead to one at 13:58, as Joel Farabee stole the puck from Jakub Zboril and beat Swayman for his 14th goal of the season to make it 3-2.
Shots through two periods were even, 24-24.
Pastrnak wasted no time completing the hat trick. Just 39 seconds into the third period, he scored on a two-on-one for his 60th goal of the season and 300th goal of his career. It also marked his fourth career hat trick against the Flyers and 15th overall in his career.
The Flyers answered back at 9:06 of the third, as Owen Tippett scored his 24th of the season on a tip-in off a feed from Farabee to make it 4-3.
With 3:04 remaining, the Bruins put the game away, as Pavel Zacha fired a one-timer for his 21st goal of the season.
Swayman made 34 saves on 37 shots in the win. Sandstrom made 29 saves on 34 shots in the loss.
Pastrnak also had an assist for a four-point night. Tyler Bertuzzi had three assists, while Zacha had a goal and an assist. Farabee and Tippett each had a goal and an assist.
The Flyers are back on home ice on Tuesday for their final game of the season at Wells Fargo Center against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Bruins | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Flyers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- BOS Charlie Coyle (15) (Connor Carrick, Brad Marchand) 0:47
- PHI Wade Allison (9) (Unassisted) 1:04
2nd Period
- BOS David Pastrnak (58) (Connor Clifton, Jakub Zboril) 2:04
- BOS Pastrnak (59) (Tyler Bertuzzi, Pavel Zacha) 7:31
- PHI Joel Farabee (14) (Owen Tippett) 13:58
3rd Period
- BOS Pastrnak (60) (Bertuzzi, Hampus Lindholm) 0:39
- PHI Tippett (24) (Farabee, Noah Cates) 9:06
- BOS Zacha (21) (Pastrnak, Bertuzzi) 16:56
Game Statistics
| Bruins | Flyers | |
| Shots | 34 | 37 |
| Power Play | 0/1 | 0/4 |
| Hits | 25 | 20 |
| Faceoff % | 58.2% | 41.8% |
| Giveaways | 7 | 7 |
| Takeaways | 5 | 9 |
| Blocked Shots | 8 | 11 |
| Penalty Minutes | 13 | 7 |
