The Boston Bruins finished 2025 on a high and will look to begin 2026 on the same note when they finish the Canadian leg of a five-game road trip Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
Boston had two days off to savor ending a six-game skid (0-4-2) with a dominant 6-2 win Wednesday over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
“I think everyone’s sick of losing, but I’m just proud of the way we played, the way we came out,” Boston coach Marco Sturm said of his team’s effort on New Year’s Eve. “I don’t think a lot of people thought we could grab two points (in Edmonton), but we did. And also, the way we did it, I think that was pretty good.”
Boston, which had gone the prior four games without scoring more than twice, cruised to Wednesday’s victory on the strength of two goals in each period.
David Pastrnak scored a pair and added an assist to lead the Bruins, who also benefited from Jeremy Swayman’s 34-save performance and a 5-for-5 penalty kill. It was Pastrnak’s fourth multi-goal game of the season, giving him a team-high 44 points this season.
Swayman stood tall just before he was named to the U.S. Olympic roster alongside defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha (Czechia), fellow forward Elias Lindholm (Sweden) and blueliner Henri Jokiharju (Finland) also will represent the Bruins at the Games next month in Italy.
“It’s been a dream since I was a little kid to get a chance to do this,” McAvoy said Friday. “It is still surreal to me, probably will be until we take the ice there.”
Despite his 25 goals tying for second-most in the NHL this season, Morgan Geekie was left off Team Canada. But Pastrnak had other ideas.
“I told ‘Geeks’ we’d take him for Team Czech. Might try that,” the winger said, laughing.
Vancouver forward Elias Pettersson (Sweden) and goaltender Kevin Lankinen (Finland) had little time to sit on their Olympic nods as the Canucks began a back-to-back set Friday with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken.
Vancouver’s Jake DeBrusk had a goal and two assists after scoring only one goal in his previous 17 games.
“When he plays that way, he creates chances with his speed for the guys around him,” Canucks coach Adam Foote said. “I like the way he was playing, more with good structure, and he still was able to create.”
After the Kraken took a 3-1 lead on Friday, Linus Karlsson scored a tying goal 6:15 into the third period to force the extra session.
Lankinen likely will start Saturday after Thatcher Demko (25 saves) played the team’s second game against the Pacific Division rivals this week.
Against the Bruins, Vancouver again will be without two forwards, as Marco Rossi (lower-body injury) and Massachusetts native Conor Garland (undisclosed) will miss at least a week. Rossi was sidelined during during a 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
“I think with Marco, there’s trying to stop something that — if you don’t take care of it now — could progress to something you don’t want it to be,” Foote said.
Karlsson notched two goals and an assist and Lankinen 39 saves in Vancouver’s 5-4 shootout victory in Boston on Dec. 20, which was its fourth straight win at the time after trading defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild.
