Bruins top Rangers, gain in Eastern wild card race

BOSTON --David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup for the Boston Bruins, who gained ground in the Eastern Conference wild card race with a 3-1 win against the New York Rangers at TD Garden on Saturday.

Pastrnak and Linus Ullmark (30 saves) each returned for Boston (48-25-5), which moved two points ahead of the Washington Capitals for the first wild card.
The Bruins also remained three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for third in Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay defeated the Nashville Predators 6-2 later on Saturday.
"I was just out for like a week, so I wasn't worried at all [about rust]," said Ullmark, who missed three games with a lower-body injury. "I thought the boys in front did a terrific job in front, keeping me on my toes and helping me out there in the beginning. Obviously, there's going to be some small rustiness, but when you get [good] looks in the beginning, it's long gone."
Mika Zibanejad scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 32 saves for New York (51-22-6), which fell two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Metropolitan.
"I think the game went back and forth," Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow said. "… Their goalie made some good saves, but overall it was a pretty good game. Obviously, they're preparing for the playoffs, just like we are. So it was good to play one of those teams, and have a close hockey game. I think we did a lot of good things, and there are obviously some things we could have done better; little mistakes that cost us."
Pastrnak, who missed eight games with an undisclosed injury, put the Bruins ahead 1-0 with 35 seconds remaining in the first with a one-timer on a no-look pass from Charlie McAvoy off the rush.

Hall made it 2-0 on a breakaway 1:07 into the second off a stretch pass from Erik Haula after Pastrnak blocked Adam Fox's pass. Pastrnak reached 500 NHL points (239 goals, 261 assists) with an assist on the goal.
"It was nice that I was able to come back and help the team," Pastrnak said. "… I got better as the game went. The first period was a little rusty, but obviously the goal helped me. Obviously, it's nice [to get 500 points]. If you told me as a kid, I wouldn't have believed you. I'm very humbled about it and happy. … At the same time, there's other goals that I have on my mind."
Zibanejad scored on the power play at 2:58 of the third to cut it to 2-1 with a one-timer to the left of the crease off a pass from Chris Kreider.
"You always want to score every time you go out there for the power play," Zibanejad said. "Even when you don't score, you can create that momentum for your team, and you just want to make sure you don't kill it. Obviously, it was good to see that the power play got a goal, but we've just to keep going."

Trent Frederic extended Boston's lead to 3-1 at 9:37, scoring on a rebound in the slot after Shesterkin saved Craig Smith's slap shot from in close.
"After the second period, we talked about having a real good third period to give ourselves a chance to win the hockey game, and then we scored within the first eight minutes," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "Then they get that third goal. It happens. I thought we played O.K. for the most part."
Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm had three shots on goal, playing a team-high 24:41 after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.
"This time of year, you're in the dog days, so to speak, and you're looking forward to the playoffs. … So there was a little different energy in the room [with Pastrnak, Lindholm and Ullmark returning]," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I didn't get a medical report yet if there were any setbacks at all. It certainly didn't look like it. … Nice to see them back in the lineup."
NOTES: Pastrnak required the third-fewest games (508) to reach the 500-point mark with the Bruins, behind Bobby Orr (396) and Ray Bourque (484). Only Neely had more goals (291) when he reached 500 points with Boston than Pastrnak. … The Bruins reached at least 100 points in a season for the 25th time, the most in NHL history, six more than the next closest teams, the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens (19 each). … Kreider (26) and Zibanejad (15) have combined for 41 power play goals, passing Jaromir Jagr and Petr Prucha (2005-06) for the most combined by two Rangers players in a season.