Marchand, Pastrnak Both Net Two As Bruins Cruise By Caps

WASHINGTON - The Bruins started Monday night on a deceiving note, allowing two quick goals by Capitals winger Conor Sheary in the opening period to quickly fall behind by two goals. But B's fans did not need to stay worried for long, with the momentum switch happening fast as David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand took advantage on the power play late in the first to tie things up and set in motion a series of six straight goals for the Black & Gold en route to a convincing 7-3 win over Washington at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night.
Six different Bruins notched multi-point games, including Matt Grzelcyk, who collected five points (goal, four assists) to become just the fifth different defenseman in B's history to accomplish that feat. Overall, nine different players produced at least a point.

Second Line Success

Pasta was the opening course on Monday night. The B's took advantage of a 5-on-3 with just 1:26 left in the first period as Brad Marchand - just moments after taking a viscious high stick to the bridge of the nose - found Pastrnak open for a cross-ice pass, leading to an unstoppable Pastrnak one-timer.
Pastrnak scored his second goal of the game - and fifth in three games - midway through the second period on a 2-on-1 with Taylor Hall, who made a great, quick pass to Pastrnak who ripped a wrister to the back of the net to give him four goals and one assist for five points in his last two games. Pastrnak has been on fire lately after a a stretch of nine games without a goal, as the new-look second line with Hall and Erik Haula seems to really be finding its rhythm.
"I love playing with pasta," said Hall, who had two assists to extend to his point streak to six games (two goals, six assists). "He's such a great player and has a real good hockey sense, real good way of getting open and staying open."
When it comes to a someone you want on your side, Pastrnak is at the top of everyone's list. Cassidy said it best when asked about the opportunity to play on the same line as the winger when he spoke with the media after the win.
"I mean, who doesn't want that right?," said Cassidy. "He's he's a pretty explosive player. He finds the ice and can finish plays, can pass as well as he shoots, so it's a good combination right now."
The second line has been producing just as Cassidy had hoped for, as Haula also notched his third goal of the season off a nice pass from Hall to make it 6-2 with 6:51 to play in the second period. Haula's goal came just about four minutes after Pastrnak's second.
"Those guys are clicking right now," said Cassidy. "That's what we hope for. We made a few changes that we hoped would get all the lines going. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. Lately, it seems like every line is feeling good about their game."
Haula has a five-game point streak (two goals, three assists) and has been helping the second line stay in sync.
"Haula has done a nice job in there, sort of keeping that glue in the middle of the ice for those guys communicating," said Cassidy.

A Monday with Marchy

This is hardly breaking news, but Marchand did not hold anything back in D.C. - even after a violent high stick from Washington's Nic Dowd left him bloodied. His first tied the game at 2 and came with just 45 seconds left in the first period on the 5-on-3.
"I think we know what he's all about," said Cassidy when asked about how impressed he was with Marchand's play. "We've seen his compete level wether it's a practice, game, optional skate, morning skate, you name it. He's a competitive guy when he puts his skates on."
Marchand's second goal was the only Bruins goal in the third and was off the rebound on a Craig Smith blast with about nine minutes to go in the game. Both Marchand and Pastrnak have scored two goals in the past two games and both have five points.

Grzelcyk's 5 Point Night

Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk had a historic night in D.C. with four assists and one goal for five points on the night. The last time a Bruins defenseman accomplished the feat was Ray Bourque on Jan. 2, 1994, three days before Grzelcyk was born.
"Good for us and for Grizz, five points," said Cassidy. "It doesn't happen very often, so enjoy it when it does."
For Grzelcyk, everything just fell into place. "Nothing that I did in particular, and obviously forwards did a great job reloading," Grzelcyk said of what clicked.
As for how he felt when he realized what what he had accomplished, all he could really do was laugh. "I was just laughing during the game because I felt good about my game most of the year, and points have been a little bit hard to come by," said Grzelcyk, who now has 13 points on the season.
When asked about the sort of standard this sets for him moving forward, Grzelcyk said you can always expect to put forth 100% effort, but having five-point games every night is, admittedly, not in Grzelcyk's game plan.
"I have to play the right way," said Grzelcyk. "Kind of stay on the D side of the puck to make sure that I'm closing and I'm using my feet to my advantage in the D and the D zone. I'm not cheating, looking for offense, so I'm certainly not going to expect to get five points every night."
For something that could be a once in a career type of moment, Grzelcyk was happy to be able to share it with his teammates.
"Obviously a pretty good moment and pretty cool to share with my teammates," said Grzelcyk.
The Bruins look to bring their successful play on the road back with them to TD Garden for a back-to-back match-up starting on Wednesday with the Canadiens, then Philadelphia on Thursday - both at 7p.m.