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David Pastrnak joined some esteemed company on Sunday evening.
The Bruins winger scored his 50th goal of the season just 4:43 into the first period of Sunday’s matchup against the Hurricanes at PNC Arena, becoming just the sixth player in franchise history to light the lamp 50 or more times in a single campaign.
Pastrnak recorded the milestone tally off of a partial breakaway. After recovering a stretch feed from Charlie McAvoy, Pastrnak skated in alone against Frederik Andersen. But with Brent Burns bearing down on him, Pastrnak’s lost control of the biscuit.
But puck luck benefited from Boston’s top sniper. The skittering disc sailed right through Andersen’s five-hole, giving the Bruins an early 1-0 lead.
THE FUSILLI 50. 🍝 @pastrnak96 is the first #NHLBruins 50-goal scorer since Cam Neely in 1993-94! pic.twitter.com/hEmKIvwxKj
— y – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 26, 2023
Pastrnak — who also recorded the 600th point of his career off that first-period strike — is the first Bruin to hit the 50-goal mark since Cam Neely during the 1993-94 season.
Pastrnak is in rarified air when it comes to 50-goal scorers in black-and-gold sweaters. Other than Pastrnak and Neely, only four other Bruins have hit 50 or more goals in one season (Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk, Ken Hodge, and Rick Middleton).
Pastrnak (583 games played) became the third-fastest player to record 600 NHL points with the Bruins, trailing only Bobby Orr (461 games played) and Ray Bourque (569 games played).
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