Bruins Take Down Dallas for Third Straight Win

BOSTON - David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall blasted home one-timer, Patrice Bergeron added an empty-netters, and Linus Ullmark made 30 saves to pace the Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at TD Garden. The win was Boston's third straight and pushed the Black & Gold's record to 6-1-0 to open up the 2022-23 campaign.
"I think we're finding different ways to win every night," said coach Jim Montgomery. "I didn't think tonight was a very good offensive game for us, I thought there were plays to be made that even our elite offensive players weren't seeing. But our checking is really improving. We won with defense - and of course Linus was really good in the net again tonight."

After allowing some leads to slip away over the first six games - even in the midst of the team's strong start - Montgomery was quite pleased with the way Boston locked down defensively in the third period to maintain its one-goal lead, noting that his club is "closing faster on the play" and not allowing the opposition "as much time and space."
"We haven't won a game doing that. We've kind of surrendered leads and then we end up winning in overtime or pull away late," said Montgomery. "But it's nice to close out a game where Dallas - I give them credit, they played really hard at the end of a three in four.
"They pushed us, and they tested us, and I liked the way we shut things down in the last four minutes."

All the notes and numbers from the Bruins' Tuesday night win over Dallas:

Ullmark Stays Undefeated: The netminder made his third consecutive start between the pipes and stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced to improve 5-0-0 on the season with a .936 save percentage (eighth in the league) and 2.01 goals against average (tied 10th).
"It's not just me out there," said Ullmark. "There's a whole group of guys out there. We're doing this together. It's not just me. There are guys in front of me blocking shots left and right and doing the right things over and over and over again. It's fun to see."

Clifton Lowers the Boom: Connor Clifton can throw the body around as well as anyone - that much was clear in the first period when he delivered a reverse hit on Dallas' Roope Hintz along the boards, sending the forward crashing to the ice. Former Bruins blue liner Colin Miller took exception to the hit and dropped the gloves with Clifton, leading to an extra, two-minute roughing penalty that put the Bruins on the power play.
On the ensuing man advantage, Pastrnak ripped home a one-timer to open the scoring.
"I think his timing on hits is incredible, like he rocks people and I think that had a big impact early in the game," said Montgomery. "You could tell that there were plays that I thought Dallas could have made that because of Cliffy's early hits, they rushed their plays."

Pasta Powers Up: Pastrnak's power-play tally was his fifth goal in seven games and his first on the man advantage. The winger connected on a booming one-timer from his familiar spot in the left-wing circle off a feed from Hampus Lindholm, rocketing one by Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger to give Boston a 1-0 lead with 7:11 remaining in the first period.
"I like the pass from the D when he's right ahead of me," said Pastrnak. "It was good. I got a touch on it and got all of it. It feels nice to hit. I could be a couple of inches up and be out of the zone. Obviously, I'll take the goal.
"We need it, get some momentum on power play…hopefully we can get better and play with more momentum."

Krejci Line Connects: In addition to his power-play tally, Pastrnak also picked up an assist on Taylor Hall's blast with 1:03 left in the second period that gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Pastrnak delivered a slippery feed across the slot to Hall, who ripped home his own one-timer from the right-wing circle that deflected off Dallas defenseman Ryan Suter and by Oettinger with David Krejci parked at the top of the crease.
"Not every game is perfect, but tonight we found a way to contribute," said Hall, whose scored for the third straight game and now has four goals on the season. "A little bit of a sloppy game, and we didn't have the O-zone time we would want night in night out, but that's a solid defensive team that doesn't give you a whole lot. They protect the slot well, and obviously that's where we're looking to get shots off from and create second chances.
"So, it's a good sign that when you don't have your best that you can find a way to get on the board and find a way to get that goal back that we were on for. Those two guys [Pastrnak and Krejci], you saw on the power play as well, they moved around well. And I think it's a real positive thing that we can contribute on a night like tonight."
Montgomery said that "the rest of the league is going to have to be aware" of the trio throughout the season because of how explosive they can be offensively.
"I think they're very dangerous," said Montgomery. "When they're on their game, they're going to make people really worry about them when they're out there. I find that their game management is getting better and better every game too."

Carlo Returns to Action:After missing four games with a concussion, Brandon Carlo was back in the lineup for the Bruins and put forth a strong defensive effort, particularly in the closing minutes as Boston held on to a one-goal lead. Carlo finished with 18:29 of ice time in his return to action.
"I thought he was a beast tonight, it's great to have him back," said Montgomery. "We've been able to have success without Carlo and [Matt] Grzelcyk, and [Charlie] McAvoy is still going to be out for a while, but it's nice to know that we have players coming back which makes us better."