Boston Bruins show resilience in come-from-behind win over Hurricanes

David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins battled through adversity and a sluggish start to put on a show in the third period and collect an important victory against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Everybody loves a good comeback. When the Hurricanes were up 4-1 with 10 minutes left in the third, many believed this would be a throwaway game for the Boston Bruins. But the Bruins and their fans know a thing or two about being down 4-1 in the third period, and not a single Bruins fan in Raleigh tonight left their seats until the final horn blew and the scoreboard read 6-4 for Boston.

Matt Grzelcyk opened the third period floodgates with a goal at 10:04 to make it 4-2 Carolina. Boston rattled off three more goals over a 6:26 total time span to take a 5-4 lead, adding an empty netter late for good measure.

Marchand reached the 30-goal mark late in the first period, marking the third consecutive season he has reached 30 goals. He also had two assists on the evening. David Pastrnak was the star of the evening, though, with a hat trick and an assist on the Marchand goal.

Believe it or not, this was Pastrnak’s first career hat trick and it happened in only seven minutes and 11 seconds. His second goal was also the game winner:

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/973749319386959874

If you had to choose one word to define the Bruins this season, it would be resilient. They were forced to show this tonight in more ways than one. The Bruins were down to 15 skaters in the third period, losing Zdeno Chara, Jake DeBrusk and Torrey Krug to injuries (the status of these players is currently unknown). Unfortunately, the Bruins are no strangers to injury this season.

However, each time the Bruins lose a player to an injury or suspension, another player steps up and plays at nearly the same level. These Bruins are deep. They can beat you with all four lines and they can do it at any time of the game. The team is firing on all cylinders at the right time of the year and it has Bruins fans very excited for the playoffs.

With a win tonight, the Bruins also chipped away at the six-point gap held by the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning, who are now only four points ahead of Boston in the standings. The Bruins have two games in hand on the Lightning, and the two face-off in a huge game on Saturday evening.

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It’s an unwritten rule that the two-goal lead is the worst lead in hockey. Ask any Boston fan about this and they will happily tell you that when a team is up four goals to one on Boston, the game is just beginning.