Pastrnak Scores Twice as Bruins Blank Predators 6-0 in Boston

David Pastrnak scored two goals and added two assists as the Boston Bruins beat the Nashville Predators 6-0 at TD Garden on Thursday night. Boston scored twice in each period and never let Nashville into the game. Charlie McAvoy finished with four assists, a season high for him, and Pavel Zacha added two assists.

The story in net was Michael DiPietro. He stopped all 28 shots he faced for the first shutout of his career and his second career win. Eleven of his saves came in the second period, when Nashville pushed hardest and still got nothing.

Two goals in every period

Casey Mittelstadt opened the scoring 3:49 into the game, taking a cross-ice pass from Pastrnak and beating Justus Annunen on the blocker side. Boston made it 2-0 late in the first period on the power play. The Bruins needed only 14 seconds of the advantage before Elias Lindholm deflected a McAvoy point shot in front with 3:22 left in the period.

Pastrnak pushed the lead to 3-0 at 9:46 of the second, tipping home a McAvoy shot from the top of the right circle moments after DiPietro had turned away Mavrik Bourque on a charge at the other end. JJ Peterka scored Boston's fourth goal with 2:39 left in the second, burying his own rebound after his first shot hit the left post.

The third period followed the same pattern. Mark Kastelic made it 5-0 at 6:50 after Annunen mishandled a dump-in that bounced off the corner boards and the post. Pastrnak closed the scoring with 5:00 left, his shot from the high slot deflecting off a defender and past Annunen.

Nashville's hard night

Annunen made 25 saves in his first start of the season after coming off injured reserve, and the score was not a fair measure of his night alone. Nashville has now dropped four of five games, with a 1-2-2 record in that stretch, and the Predators were shut out while putting 28 shots on goal. Their next chance to answer comes quickly. Nashville visits the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, October 24.

Boston, at 8-2-1, has gone 6-0-1 in its last seven games. The Bruins got goals from five different scorers, points from their best defenseman on four of the six goals, and a shutout from a goaltender who started the night with one career win. That is the kind of depth that makes a 6-0 score look routine, even when it is not.