Bruins Postgame: DiPietro’s First Shutout Means So Much More

The Boston Bruins had plenty to celebrate on Thursday night, but Michael DiPietro’s night meant much more than two points.

The Bruins (8-2-1) extended their point streak to seven games with a commanding 6-0 win over the Nashville Predators (3-3-3) at TD Garden. Five different players scored, with David Pastrnak scoring twice and Casey Mittelstadt, Elias Lindholm, JJ Peterka, and Mark Kastelic adding one.

Charlie McAvoy finished with four assists, and DiPietro made 28 saves in his first NHL shutout.

Also Read:Bruins Roll Past Predators, Extend Point Streak to Seven Games

The Bruins hosted Hockey Fights Cancer night on Thursday. DiPietro lost his mother to cancer when he was younger, making his first NHL shutout on Thursday all the more meaningful.

“A little bit stressed out, but obviously, you couldn’t really write it better,” DiPietro said postgame. “For me, it means a lot on Hockey Fights Cancer night.

My mom passed away when I was five from cancer. So for me, it means a lot, but also to my family and everyone back home, and I just want to make them proud, and obviously this is a really special moment.”

The last time the Bruins returned home from a trip out west, they came out flat and lost 4-1 to the Ottawa Senators. Marco Sturm harped on that after morning skate, but cited the Bruins coming out with “a good jump” on Thursday morning.

That carried over into the game, as Casey Mittelstadt opened the scoring just 3:49 into the first period.

The Bruins took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and added two goals in every period, a much different response than their last return home.

“You know what I liked the most, besides Mikey’s shutout, is that we came out with energy,” Sturm said after the game. “We talked about it in the morning.

We addressed it. After a big road trip, it’s not always easy, but I thought it was one of the best pre-game skates we had all year.

That’s exactly the way we skated – the energy, anything about it – we kind of carried it over to tonight’s game. And that’s where I’m happy with because now it shows for next time that we can do it.

It’s just a mindset. Sometimes it’s hard, but that, for me, was the biggest reason why we won this game tonight.”

The Bruins got off to a strong start and never wavered. They, like for much of the road trip, got contributions up and down their lineup.

Five different Bruins found the back of the net, and they had two players with four-point nights. David Pastrnak, who had two goals and two assists on Thursday, now leads the team with six goals, but he’s one of seven players to have three or more tucks this season.

“It’s amazing. Obviously it helps [that] every line is producing,” Pastrnak said.

’ So it’s fun to see. Every line is finding chemistry already, slowly.

So we have good chemistry all around four lines, and it’s producing, so it’s good to see and makes it much easier for us defending and getting the wins.”

“It’s been good. I think, especially when you kind of want to match lines or something,” JJ Peterka, another goal scorer on Thursday, added.

“When every line is capable of scoring goals, every line is dangerous when they’re out there, and I think that’s a really nice thing to have.”

The Bruins now have points in their last seven games, including a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks last Tuesday. They will close out their season series, and their brief two-game homestand, against the Sharks on Saturday night at 7:00 PM.

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