Bruins snap losing streak, beat Hurricanes, 5-1

The - Boston Bruins may not make the playoffs but at least they won t live in infamy either Riding a -game losing streak going into Saturday the B s were in danger of tying the franchise s -year-old record for futility if they had managed to lose their th straight But thanks to a monster five-point night from David Pastrnak hat trick two assists and an excellent performance from Jeremy Swayman saves the B s beat the playoff-bound Carolina Hurricanes a - at the Garden The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Swayman who lose the shutout with seconds left on a Justin Robidas goal while Pastrnak hit the -goal plateau for the fifth time and fourth straight season It was also Swayman s th career win For much of the first period the Bruins looked like multiple of the rest of us just counting down the games until this brutal season is over They took icing after icing giving Carolina lots of zone time But then out of nowhere the B s grabbed a - lead in the final of the period The first goal came innocuously enough Morgan Geekie carried the puck over the Carolina blue line without any help and he fired a long-range wrist shot low and hard that went through the Carolina defender and then goalie Freddie Andersen That was the th goal for Geekie the lone surprise success story of the season One change interim coach Joe Sacco made going into the meeting was to try Elias Lindholm with Pastrnak again It was a combo management envisioned when Lindholm was signed to a seven-year million contract last summer It did not work at first and former coach Jim Montgomery absolutely abandoned it after about games Whether there s still a chance for a long-term connection to happen there remains to be seen but they looked good together on the next shift after the Geekie goal They buzzed the Carolina zone until Lindholm parked at the top of the crease an aspect of his championship that Sacco thought might work redirected a nice Pastrnak pass past Andersen with seconds remaining in the period That was Lindholm s th goal of the season and it gave the B s their first two-goal lead since their - win over Tampa on March the first day after the commerce deadline Swayman made several good saves early on in the second period to maintain the two-lead and the B s made it - at On a mad scramble in the Carolina zone Pastrnak possessed the puck in tight and cut across the top of the crease Instead of going to the backhander he held and held until Andersen was sufficiently out of his crease then Pastrnak spun around to his forehand and beat the goalie to the open short side It was Pastrnak s th of the year and third point of the night The Canes had a chance to get on the board when the B s turned it over behind their own net and old friend Taylor Hall was fed out front Hall sliced through the slot and had lots of room to lift a backhander into the net but Swayman robbed him with a glove save Swayman was excellent in the second period stopping all shots he faced The good times continued to roll early in the third period Just in Pastrnak scored his second of the night th of the season when batted an aerial puck past Anderson for the - lead Pastrnak finished off the hat trick when threw a couple of fakes at a helpless Andersen and tucked it around the goalie