Pastrnak's OT Winner Caps Thriller in Dallas

DALLAS - Sometimes it's OK for things to be difficult.
And that's exactly the way Jim Montgomery felt on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.
The Bruins did not dominate the Stars as they have so many teams throughout this incredible regular season. But what they did accomplish was, perhaps, more impressive.
Boston battled through, overcoming a third-period deficit, a bevy of penalty kills - including one in overtime - and a historically bad night at the faceoff dot to secure a 3-2 victory over Dallas on David Pastrnak's OT winner late in the extra session.

"I liked our team's response the entire game," said Montgomery, who notched his 100th career victory. "I loved the way we started, I loved the adversity we faced within the game. That was a playoff atmosphere. I thought Dallas played really well. And I thought we played really well, which leads to real good hockey. That's why it's such a good league."
The victory was the Bruins' 40th of the year, making them the first team in the NHL to reach that plateau this season, while also tying the NHL record for fewest games (53) to hit the mark (Washington Capitals, 2015-16).
"It was nice to win a game where we had to overcome so many struggles within the game, the penalty kills, playing really well but not having a lead, trailing...keep pushing, keep believing," said Montgomery. "There's a lot of belief in that locker room that if we play the right way, we've got a lot of depth that can overcome a lot of adversity."

Boston did that beautifully against the Stars. Despite trailing, 2-1, entering the final frame, the Bruins showed why they are the best third-period team in the league with a strong effort over the closing 20 minutes. The push paid off when Pavel Zacha took Brandon Carlo's cross-slot feed and buried a wrister glove-side by Dallas goalie Jake Oettiinger with 9:48 remaining to tie it up.
"We kept coming, especially in the third period," said Zacha. "We played great overall, playing it simple in the neutral zone, trying to get chances there. You can see the depth in our team, blocking shots in the end, great penalty kill today. Just overall a good game for us and a big win."
"They were struggling to even reach the red line in the third period, especially the last 10 minutes," added Montgomery. "We just kept pouring it on. That's Bruins hockey. That's our identity there."
The Bruins went a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill - including a 5-on-3 in the second period - with the biggest coming early in overtime after Brad Marchand was called for interference after a collision with Tyler Seguin. With help from a massive Derek Forbort block in the closing seconds of the kill, the Bruins got back to even strength and set up Pastrnak's winner 1:12 after the Dallas power play expired.
"They are playing great hockey. So do we. We knew that coming in," said Pastrnak. "It was exactly as both teams expected. It was a hard played game…and really proud of our group, we came back. It's not easy to come back on the road, especially against a team like Dallas."

On the winner, after corralling the puck in the Bruins' end, Zacha lugged it through the neutral zone and left a pass for Pastrnak just inside the Dallas blue line. Pastrnak then dropped a pass for a trailing Charlie McAvoy, who skated down to the right-wing faceoff dot and zipped a feed across the seam. Pastrnak was waiting at the opposite dot and contorted his body to one-time home the winner just inside the near post as he tumbled to the ice.
"Pasta was trying to push the pace for me, so I had some space in the neutral zone," said Zacha. "I kicked it out, tried to get to the net and Mac made a great play, the seam pass to Pasta. Pasta can score those goals. It was a huge goal for us. Happy we could turn it around and win the game like that."
Zacha's goal and assist gave him 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) for the season, setting a new career high for the 25-year-old after he posted 36 last year in New Jersey.
"Playing with the players that I do and getting the opportunity, the minutes that I play and with great players," said Zacha, "it's fun to play this season. Just trying to get better every year that I can."
Montgomery said that Zacha "was outstanding all night long" in every area, particularly on the penalty kill, during which he played 1:23, the fourth-highest among Bruins forwards behind Patrice Bergeron, Marchand, and Charlie Coyle.
"I thought he took pucks to hard areas. Obviously, the goal is great, but he had a couple of plays taking it to the net where Oettinger had to make really good saves on him," said Montgomery. "I thought he was dangerous all night long. He's one of our main penalty killers and he's a big part of what our penalty kill did tonight."

Wait, There's More

-- The Bruins put on a show for their siblings, who watched from a suite inside American Airlines Center, before joining the team outside the locker room for a raucous celebration following the victory.
"We wanted to win the game for them, too," said Zacha, whose sister Leona made the trip to the United States for the first time. "It's gonna be way more fun for them to enjoy this road trip when it's gonna be a win or two wins. I'm happy. She's never been to U.S. before so seeing these cities and winning the game, it's huge. I'm happy that she's enjoying it."
"A lot of the people there have traveled a long way. None of them have done this before," said Ullmark. "My brother [Tobias is[ here as well. It's a very special feeling for me as well. It's just fun. On this trip, you want to have two wins. We want to do it for them, we want to show how good we are. We get a little bit more motivated than usual now when we have them with us."

-- The Bruins had an unusually abysmal night at the faceoff dot, winning just 19 percent of their draws: "Dallas is great. They've got a right shot and a left shot on each line that can take draws extremely well. That makes it hard," said Montgomery. "They're always on their power side. Big difference. You want righties on the right dot, lefties on the left dot and they got that combo so a lot of time our righties are going on their non-power side against someone on their power side. It's really hard to win those."

--Boston was impressed by Oettinger, who stymied them for much of the night, making 34 saves, including a lights-out, point-blank stop of Bergeron from the doorstep in the first period. "He made some great saves there especially on Bergy. Some other big glove saves," said Ullmark. "You can tell he's an outstanding goaltender. I always believe in our group and that we can score. We showed that before. We showed it again tonight."