NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 19: Brady Tkachuk #7 of the Ottawa Senators skates during warm up prior to the game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on January 19, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images)
David Pastrnak’s hat trick spoils J.T. Miller’s 2-goal return to Rangers in Bruins’ 6-3 win.
BOSTON — — David Pastrnak scored three goals and added an assist to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-3 victory over New York on Saturday, spoiling J.T. Miller’s return to the Rangers.
Charlie McAvoy, Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha also scored for Boston, which snapped a two-game skid. Jeremy Swayman finished with 22 saves.
Miller scored twice in his first game with the Rangers one day after they reacquired him from Vancouver in a multiplayer deal that sent Filip Chytil to the Canucks. Jonny Brodzinski also scored and Igor Shesterkin had 19 saves as New York lost its third straight in regulation after a 7-0-3 stretch.
After Miller’s rising one-timer from the slot made it 1-1 at 10:55 of the first period, Pastrnak put Boston ahead for good when he slipped a shot past Shesterkin with 2:51 left.
Coyle tipped Andrew Peeke’s shot from the right point over Shesterkin’s glove to make it 3-1 at 3:39 of the second.
Pastrnak got his second early in the third and completed his 18th career hat trick with an empty-netter for his team-leading 27th goal.
Takeaways
Rangers: New York began the day sixth in the Metropolitan Division and 13th in the conference, and need to start stringing together more wins.
Bruins: It was a nice turnaround for Swayman after he gave up seven goals in a loss against Buffalo on Tuesday.
Key moment
After Miller’s second sliced it to 4-2 early in the third, Pastrnak scored on a slap shot 46 seconds later.
Key stat
Despite struggling on the road, the Bruins improved to 11-2-1 in their last 14 games at TD Garden.
Up Next
Rangers host Vegas on Sunday and Bruins host Minnesota on Tuesday.
