In Boston, the Bruins’ David Pastrnak completed a hat trick in the second period in a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
Pastrnak scored twice in the first period, once off the power play, to stake the Bruins to a 2-0 lead.
Tuukka Rask made his first start of the season after signing a one-year deal with Boston earlier.
“It was [emotional],” Rask said. “It was very much out of the normal, the way I was feeling before the game. It’s been many months since my last game. … It was great to see the fan support. The best fans. … It felt like I was at home, basically.”
Boston improved to 21-11-2.
“[He] looked like old Tuukka,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Good for him. Glad to see him come through. I think the guys played hard for him. … In the second period, we got a little casual. … There are a couple things we need to clean up. There usually is, but we were able to get through it.”
Rask made 25 saves in the win.
“Even though it wasn’t killing me every game last year, it’s always in the back of my head that certain movements were limited,” Rask said. “It’s great to feel that I have the ability to move both ways.”
Cam Atkinson and Joel Farabee rallied the Flyers with two goals in the middle frame to even the game, 2-2.
“You’ve got to make sure you win your battles and bring your work ethic right off the top,” Flyers coach Mike Yeo said. “Every shift through the course of the game, there’s moments where you have to treat it like it’s the difference in the hockey game, whether it’s the first, second, or third period. We haven’t been seeming to grasp that.”
Pastrnak hit for his second power play goal of the night at 16:45 of the second period to restore the Bruins lead.
“Talking to him after, there were no issues with the (hip) surgery,” Cassidy said. “A little sore in spots, but I think that’s just from not playing in a while. He said his conditioning was pretty good.”
Philadelphia dropped to 13-16-7.
“We haven’t played [since a 3-2 overtime loss against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday], coming off COVID protocol, but obviously no excuses,” Atkinson said. “We knew that they’ve played a lot of hockey as of late, and we did the exact opposite of what our game plan told us to do. We got back to it in the second and third period.”
Carter Hart made 33 saves in the Flyers loss.
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