David Pastrnak's 50th goal of the season wasn't exactly a work of art, but it was good enough to gain him entry in a pair of exclusive Bruins clubs.
The Bruins have to fix their power play before the playoffs
The milestone goal came in the first period of Boston's 4-3 shootout win over Carolina on Sunday, with Pastrnak taking a stretch pass from Charlie McAvoy and racing in on a semi-breakaway. Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns closed quick enough to disrupt the shot, but the puck wound up sliding off Pastrnak's stick and right through Frederik Andersen's five-hole.
With the goal, Pastrnak became the first Bruin to score 50 in a season since Cam Neely in 1993-94. He is just the sixth Bruin to ever achieve the feat, joining Phil Esposito (5x), Neely (3x), Johnny Bucyk (1x), Ken Hodge (1x) and Rick Middleton (1x).
The goal was also Pastrnak's 600th career point, making the 26-year-old the 12th Bruin in franchise history to join that club. He got there in 583 games; the only Bruins to get there faster are Bobby Orr (461) and Ray Bourque (569).
And if all that wasn't enough, the goal was also Pastrnak's 96th point of the season, setting a new career high for him. Pastrnak had 95 points in 70 games in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the final 12 games of the regular season being canceled.
Pastrnak added his 51st goal of the season on a second-period power play to put the Bruins up 2-1.
Jakub Lauko made it 3-1 Bruins heading to the third, but the Hurricanes would mount a comeback and force overtime. No one scored during the 3-on-3 extra session, sending the game to a shootout, where Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk would score for the Bruins while Jeremy Swayman stopped both Carolina attempts he faced.
In one last bit of history for the day, the win, which was the Bruins' seventh in a row, was their 57th of the season, tying the 1970-71 Bruins for the most in a season in franchise history.
The Bruins will have Monday off before returning to home ice against Nashville on Tuesday.