Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak combine for two slick goals in matinee win over Senators

BOSTON — The Bruins got to work early on Monday, with some matinee action on Presidents’ Day. Two of their best players combined forces to give them a second-period lead.

With 3:01 remaining in the second period of a 1-1 game, an offensive zone faceoff was won by David Krejci, who had been honored pregame for hitting the 1,000-game milestone last month. From the left wing, David Pastrnak pounced on the loose puck behind Krejci and sent a pass to Charlie McAvoy at the right point.

Rather than simply accepting that pass, though, McAvoy let the puck go past him and deflect off the boards. McAvoy used that extra time to load up as if he was about to uncork a one-time slap shot. Instead, McAvoy faked the shot, let the puck go through his legs, spun, looked up, and fired a pass right back to Pastrnak.

From there, one of the NHL’s most lethal scorers did the rest.

As Jack Edwards noted immediately on the NESN broadcast, it was the 40th goal of the season for Pastrnak.

That goal came not long after Linus Ullmark made a spectacular glove save on a point-blank bid from Dylan Gambrell, a save which kept the game knotted at 1-1.

For the 26-year-old Pastrnak, this marks the third time in his career that he’s reached the 40-goal mark. And he tallied another goal to bring his season total to 41 later in the third period, with McAvoy again picking up an assist. His career high is 48, set in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season.

That 3-1 lead for Boston would hold as the final score, as the Bruins improved to 43-8-5 on the season.