Pastrnak gives Bruins OT win against Stars

DALLAS --David Pastrnak scored with 1:16 remaining in overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

Pastrnak took a cross-ice pass from Charlie McAvoy and scored from deep in the left face-off circle. The goal came 1:12 after Boston killed off a Dallas power play when Brad Marchand was called for interference.
"They're playing great hockey, so do we, so we knew that coming in," Pastrnak said. "It was exactly what both teams expected. It was a hard-played game. We did two mistakes, they got two goals. I'm really proud of our group, we came back and it's not easy to come back on the road, especially against a good team like Dallas."

Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha each had a goal and an assist, and Linus Ullmark made 29 saves for the Bruins (40-8-5), who tied the 2015-16 Washington Capitals for the fewest games to 40 wins in a single season in NHL history.
Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, Joe Pavelski had two assists, and Jake Oettinger made 34 saves for the Stars (30-14-11), who went 3-1-4 on their homestand.
"You want to test yourself against the best in the League, and they're a heck of a team having a historic year, so it's easy to get up for games like this," Oettinger said. "It was a fun game but didn't get the two points."
Zacha tied it 2-2 at 10:12 of the third period on a shot from the left circle that went high glove-side for his third goal in three games.
"They played a great game, I think," Zacha said. "But that's what our team is about, our identity. With having the leaders like we do I don't think we get frustrated. We just get to working hard, sticking to the process. I think that's one of the game's best third-period teams … so, we know our strength."

Boston took a 1-0 lead at 10:33 of the first period. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm circled behind the net, spun and sent a pass back to the right side of the crease to Hall, who scored far side.
"It was a good game. They are as advertised," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "Really good team. Heavy, hard team, tough defense, good goaltending, so they came as advertised. I thought we stood around and watched a little bit in the first period, and thankfully [Oettinger] played the way he did and let us get through that first 20 minutes. Then we jumped into the battle, and I thought we were pretty good the next two periods."
Roope Hintz tied it 1-1 at 13:11 when he drove to the front of the net and scored five-hole on a backhand for his fourth goal in five games.
"It was nice to win a game where we had to overcome so many struggles within the game," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "The penalty kills, then playing really well and not having the lead, trailing. Keep pushing, keep believing. There's a lot of belief in that locker room if we play the right way. We have a lot of depth that can overcome a lot of adversity."

Robertson gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 4:17 of the second period when Pavelski found him driving to the net for a shot from the bottom of the left circle.
"[Oettinger] was phenomenal. We won a lot of draws, drew a lot of penalties," Robertson said. "But at the end of the day, special teams wasn't good enough, and it hasn't been lately. It doesn't feel great, especially when you go 0-for-4 on the power play. Definitely let our team down."
NOTES: It was Montgomery's first game in Dallas as a head coach after being fired Dec. 10, 2019, and 100th coaching win (100-51-15), including 60-43-10 in two seasons with the Stars. … Robertson has 71 points (34 goals, 37 assists) in 55 games to tie Mike Modano (39 goals, 33 assists, 1993-94) for the fewest games to reach 70 points in Stars history. Bobby Smith holds the Minnesota North Stars record of 48 games in 1981-82.