David Pastrnak had a hat trick and three assists for the Boston Bruins in a 7-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at TD Garden on Saturday.
“I played with great players in a great team (this season) and we’re playing well now,” Pastrnak said after becoming the youngest player to score six points in a Stanley Cup Playoff game. “It’s very easy for me to follow up the team. … We have a lot of guys who want it and they know what it takes.”
The 21-year-old has four goals and five assists in the series, which ties the NHL record for most points by a player in the first two games of the playoffs (Phil Esposito, Bruins, 1969).
Linemates Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron each had four assists, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins.
Boston leads the best-of-7 series 2-0. Game 3 is at Toronto on Monday.
“We are playing great as a line and we’ve been together for a while,” Pastrnak said. “We’ve faced it every game this season and we want to get better every game. We don’t think about the other team; we try to do our best and play simple and play pretty fast. I think we don’t think about what’s going to happen, just what we can do and what we can control.”