Bruins cruise to 4-1 win over Penguins

The Boston Bruins could have secured finishing with the fourth worst record in the NHL with a regulation loss in Pittsburgh on Sunday. David Pastrnak, however, has shown no desire to help the B’s drafting position.

The B’s superstar picked up two more assists for his fifth straight multiple-point game, Fabian Lysell scored his first NHL goal and the B’s beat a disinterested Pittsburgh Penguins team, 4-1 in the B’s road finale.

Pastrnak now has a nine-game point streak, with 8-12-20 totals in that span. He has 15 points (5-10) in his last five games and 104 points on the season (42-62).

Meanwhile, the B’s did remain fourth from the bottom, one point behind both Seattle and Philadelphia. A regulation loss in the season finale against New Jersey at TD Garden on Tuesday would still lock that in, with their final draft position determined by the lottery. The Kraken has one game left while Philly has two remaining in the season.

On Sunday, the Bruins dominated the first period, outshooting the Pens, 13-6, but it looked like they’d be victimized by an excellent period by Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry.

A terrific power play produced several good scoring chances, but Jarry robbed Morgan Geekie on a one-timer. Jarry was also the beneficiary of a Geekie one-timer that missed a wide-open net.

But after a late-period gloved punch-up between Parker Wotherspoon and Evgeni Malkin produced a 4-on-4, the B’s cashed in on the open ice with three seconds left.

Pastrnak had a strong, aggressive shift, creating one turnover down low, and then assisting on Elias Lindhom’s 17th goal of the season. From above the left circle, Pastrnak made a nice diagonal pass down to Lindholm at the right side of the net. Jarry stopped Lindholm’s initial redirection of the puck, but Lindholm stayed at the top of the crease and put home his rebound. That helper was Pastrnak’s 103rd point and extended his point streak to nine games.

The early vision for Lindholm when he was signed to the mammoth seven-year contract was for him to be paired with Pastrnak and it simply didn’t work at first. Now, after being reunited with Pastrnak after the trade deadline, the centerman seems to be finding his niche between the two wings.

“Obviously in the beginning, it was a tough start. I missed the whole training camp (with injury) and we weren’t playing any good hockey at that time,” Lindholm told reporters in Pittsburgh. “Dave throughout the season has gotten better and better. Obviously watching him now for a full season, you know what he likes to do out there. Obviously he likes to talk a lot and help his linemates out to get better. It’s been easy to be a part of, for sure.”

Asked if he’d like a second chance to start the season in 2025-26 with Pastrnak, Lindholm said, “It’s a couple months away. We’ll see.”

The B’s stretched their lead to 3-0 in the second period, with one goal coming from a welcome source.

While Pastrnak was all over the place in the first period, Lysell had been using his speed to create chances as well. And he was later rewarded with this first NHL goal on a power play at 8:52. After Ville Koivunen was whistled for a questionable trip on Mason Lohrei, Marat Khusnutdinov pushed the puck deep to Pavel Zacha, who found the wide-open Lysell in front of the net.

Jarry was in position to make the save but Lysell’s shot broke through the netminder and found the back of the net. The secondary helper snapped a five-game pointless streak for Khusnutdinov.

“I think it means a lot for a guy like (Lysell),” said interim coach Joe Sacco. “He sees himself as a little more of an offensive player and when you’re in that position, you want to produce offensively. Especially getting your first one in the National Hockey League, it’s always a weight lifted off your shoulder. Good on him. He’s doing some good things with the puck at times offensively. He’s attacking through the neutral zone, he’s attacking in the offensive zone. There are some tings to like in his game, for sure.”

Then Pastrnak gave Geekie another shot at a one-timer and, this time, his wingman didn’t miss. Off the rush on the right wing, Pastrnak fed Geekie for the one-timer and Geekie buried his 32nd goal of the season. At first it looked like it was Pastrnak’s after it hit the back bar and quickly bounced to Pastrnak, who banked the rebound off Jarry and in. But a closer look showed that Geekie’s original shot was in. Nonetheless, the assist gave Pastrnak his fifth straight multiple-point game.

“It’s been very impressive,” said Sacco of Pastrnak-Geekie partnership. “The way that they’re finding each other, the way they’re seeing the game offensively. I’ll say it’s the whole line (with Lindholm) right now, but especially those two. They’re seeing the game well offensively, they know where each other is and they have those seam plays that they’ve been able to expose teams on and they both can shoot the puck on their off side on the one-timer side. It’s tough to cover that.”

The B’s appeared to be in complete control of the game when Nikita Zadorov picked up a pair of minors, tying him Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk at the top of the league with his 38th and 39th infraction. First, he came in after the whistle in front of his net and gave Connor Dewar a late shove, earning a roughing penalty. Then, after barking at one of the officials on his way to the box, he got hit with the extra two with 1:58 left in the period.

With 16 seconds remaining in the second, Philip Tomasino banked a shot of Rickard Rackell’s leg to beat Joonas Korpisalo and get Pittsburgh on the board while starting the third still on the PP.

The B’s, however, were able to kill off the second Zadorov minor and they hung on. With 2:30 left, Jakub Lauko outworked Malkin for a loose puck to score an empty-netter to seal it.

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