Reichel Posts Two Points In Bruins Debut, Win Over Winnipeg

BOSTON –– Bolstered by the arrival of Lukas Reichel, the Boston Bruins put a full-team effort on the ice on Thursday night at TD Garden, beating the Winnipeg Jets 6-1.

Reichel, the 23-year-old forward, was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks at the deadline, recalled from Providence on Wednesday and made his Bruins debut against Winnipeg. Reichel posted two points (one goal, one assist) in the B’s 14th win in the last 15 games on Causeway Street.

“It’s awesome. I think the crowd is always amazing,” Reichel said. “Even when I played here against the Bruins, it feels even better when you play for them.”

Before Reichel officially introduced himself to the Black & Gold crowd, David Pastrnak gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the first period, extending his point streak to eight games and tying his longest of the season.​

The forward batted down an attempted Winnipeg clear, carried the puck over to the slot and wristed it past Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck at 14:52. It was Pastrnak’s 27th goal of the season – and fourth in five games.

Boston doubled its advantage in the second period, courtesy of the team’s newest player. Reichel followed the play into the offensive zone and accelerated towards the net as Hellebuyck mishandled the puck. Reichel beat two Jets to the crease and whacked it in at 18:16 for the 2-0 boost at 6:23. It was Reichel’s first goal as a Bruin and third of the NHL season.

“Just a bouncing puck,” Reichel said. “Happens to every goalie, I think. I was glad that I was the first guy on there.”

Reichel skated on the third line with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie, and finished the night with 14:45 of total ice time.

“Definitely, they had a few good rushes, just because of [Reichel’s speed and skill]. They had some good breakouts, just because of it,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “But offensively, he will, he drives it. And I think that was the goal, bringing this guy in today to drive Elias and Geeks. So he can push them a little bit more forward.”

The second line of Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson continued its dominance to close out the middle frame. The trio created chaos in front, and Arvidsson got a stick on the puck that floated in at 18:16 to make it 3-0. It was Arvidsson’s 19th goal of the season, extending his point streak to four games.

“I think we have fun together. We talk about stuff and joke about stuff on the bench, too. I think that’s the most important thing. That creates chemistry,” Arvidsson said. “We’re just really connected, and know where each other are, and what the other guy likes to do. It’s just a really good mix of speed, playmaking skills, and people going to the net, too. Being around there and wanting to score.”

They were back at it to open the third period, putting the Bruins ahead 4-0 at 3:15. This time, it was Zacha with the tally. Arvidsson ripped one from the point, and Mittelstadt collected the rebound and pushed it over to Zacha in the left circle, where he one-timed it in for his 23rd of the season – and fourth in three games.

“Mittelstadt, I think he’s doing a really good job winning his puck battles the last couple games and passing it to me there,” Zacha said. “He looked at me a little bit when he got the puck and passed it to me. Great play from him.”​

Mittelstadt, Zacha and Arvidsson ended up with two points each on Thursday.

​“Missing the Olympics was something that was not the best mentally for me, but I was thinking about the whole break, ‘How can I come back and be a difference-maker?’” Zacha said. “Just focusing on the little things, winning the puck battles, being good on the face-off dot. I knew with our power play and our lines, we were going to have a good push here.”

Jonathan Toews got the Jets on the board with a power-play goal at 5:38. Pastrnak then picked up his second point of the night with a cross-crease pass to Fraser Minten, who knocked it in for the 5-1 scoreline and his 16th goal of the year. Jonathan Aspirot brought the game to its final 6-1 standing with a wrist shot at 18:18; Geekie and Reichel logged the assists.

“It is always fun to score goals. I was super excited about that,” Aspirot said. “I think we’re just going game by game. Try not to think about that too much, and just do our group and what we can control. Got to win every game, and have some fun doing it.”

The Bruins now hit the road for Saturday’s matchup against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.