David Pastrnak scored a walk-off goal in the shootout as the Boston Bruins earned a 3-2 victory over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night.
Pastrnak made a move to the backhand to deke out Vegas goaltender Carter Hart and slipped a forehand shot home for the deciding marker in Boston’s first shootout of the season.
James Hagens and Morgan Geekie scored in regulation for the Bruins, while Jeremy Swayman made 21 saves before stopping all three shootout attempts he faced as Boston won its second straight game and ninth in its last 12 (9-2-1).
Trevor Connelly scored the game-tying goal with 12:37 left in regulation as the Golden Knights rallied from a 2-0 deficit to send the game into overtime.
Mark Stone also lit the lamp, Mitch Marner dished out two assists, and Hart made 25 saves for Vegas, which is 1-3-2 in its last six contests.
Boston had a 27-23 shot advantage. Both teams scored a power-play goal.
The Bruins would not be denied on the shift that led to Hagens’ opening goal at 7:23 of the first period. Pressure in the offensive zone continued after Hart paddled away Nikita Zadorov’s point-blank shot, and Hagens ultimately slipped to the front to put Elias Lindholm’s centering feed past Hart on the blocker side.
Charlie McAvoy’s heavy hit on Connelly at 15:40 led to a Vegas power play, but the Golden Knights managed only six first-period shots. In the waning seconds of the period, a steal led to Marner clanking the post on a 1-on-1 shot from the slot.
After Vegas forward Braeden Bowman was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for elbowing Matt Poitras in the face, the hosts took advantage of the ensuing power play early in the second. At 3:23, Geekie scored his second goal in as many games, burying Pavel Zacha’s one-time feed from the bottom of the right circle.
The visitors cut within 2-1 with a man-up goal of their own at 14:58 of the second, as Stone was on the spot in front to score the rebound of Tomas Hertl’s shot out of the bumper. The unit needed only eight seconds to get to work, with Jack Eichel winning a faceoff to open the in-zone setup.
Connelly netted the tying goal, beating Boston defenseman Jonathan Aspirot to the side of the net to put Massachusetts native Noah Hanifin’s dish from behind the net past Swayman.
