Takeaways: Danton Heinen’s hat trick highlights Bruins offensive onslaught

The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens encountered a period of civility within their historic rivalry. But every once in a while, they provide a spark to attempt to reignite their hostilities.

The latest jolt came Saturday night at TD Garden on a night where the Bruins honored their “New Blood, New Beginnings” era (1986-2000) as part of their centennial era. The heated tensions and the offensive array provided a mini flashback from the early days of that 15-year time span.

Sixteen different Bruins, including a returning Brandon Carlo, tallied at least one point in their 9-4 victory. 

Here’s what we learned as the Bruins notched their first nine-goal output at home against the Habs since Feb. 21, 1933.

Danton Heinen’s hat trick was a long time coming.

Heinen arrived in Boston in the fall as a training camp invitee, hoping to latch on for a potential second stint with the Bruins. He impressed Jim Montgomery — his former collegiate bench boss — and the coaching staff enough to stick around beyond the preseason.

But the veteran winger had to wait until the Bruins became cap-compliant to sign his one-year, $775,000 deal on Oct. 30. Once he inked to paper, Heinen took little time to fit right in.

Nearly two years after tallying his last multi-goal game, the versatile Heinen continued his productive season with his first career hat trick.

“I’m not going to lie, it felt good,” Heinen said of his first three-goal night. “[Chances] haven’t been going in lately, so it feels good to see that go in and to contribute to the two points.

Heinen entered Saturday carrying an eight-game goal drought. He generated several 5v5 scoring chances, notching 23 shots on net, but only had a pair of assists to show for it.

The scoring chances continued for Heinen against the Habs. This time, he capitalized, beginning with his tip late in the opening frame to give the Bruins their first lead of the night at 3-2.

Heinen put the Bruins ahead for good during a wild second period with a slick top-shelf wrister over Sam Montembault’s blocker.

The Bruins gave Heinend every opportunity to get that first hat trick. Midway through the third, the coaching staff gave Heinen a rare chance on the top power-play unit.

With multiple attempts to feed him down low for better chances, Heinen secured his hat trick with a quick one-timer off Morgan Geekie’s feed in front of former Northeastern netminder Cayden Primeau.

“It’s one thing about the Bruins, how unselfish our group is,” Montgomery said. “I’ve said it so many times on how many times: it’s amazing how everybody cares about everybody else. They continuously went down low to try to get it to Heinen. It was nice. I’m happy for [Heinen], but I’m more happy with the way it developed in the way we continued to try to get him the hat trick.

Heinen’s trick highlighted a night of scoring contributions throughout the lineup.

Boston’s scoring depth shines.

The usual suspects, like the top line of David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle, all played a hand in Boston’s nine-goal outburst. So, too, did 13 others.

This development had been brewing for a little while. The Bruins began playing with pace and determination since their four-game road trip finale in St. Louis. Some defensive miscues remained, but the puck possession victories in one-on-one battles along the walls and the neutral zone began piling up.

As a result, the Bruins generated more high-danger scoring chances at 5v5 play. And against the rebuilding Habs, they hit paydirt for their highest goal output of the season.

“I don’t think we ever envisioned having a night like this,” Montgomery said. “But you’ve been seeing this coming for four games, right? We’re hanging on to pucks, and we’re hanging on to pucks. We ended up with [numerous] high A-Grade chances tonight.”

The Bruins didn’t rely on one particular setup. Instead, they showcased scoring variety throughout their nine tallies.

Their offensive brigade started with Trent Frederic and Brandon Carlo connecting on a 2-on-1 at 12:47 of the opening frame.

Jake DeBrusk’s stuff-in on the net drive and Heinen’s tip helped Boston overcome their next one-goal deficit en route to the first lead of the night.

The Bruins added a pair of crafty tallies from Heinen’s snapshot and Charlie Coyle’s one-handed chip shot in the second.

The scoring-by-committee approach continued on Pastrnak’s rebound on a breakaway attempt and one-timers from Marchand and Pavel Zacha. The trio notched milestones on their respective tallies with Pastrnak’s 30th off the season, Marchand’s 20th and Zacha’s 100th career marker. 

“That’s how we have to win this year,” Marchand said. “Pasta is an exception because he scores almost every single night. But we win by committee here, and that’s how you need to win in playoffs.” 

Marchand and Pastrnak etch more milestones in franchise ranks.

In the first 4:32 of the third, Pastrnak and Marchand notched their 30th and 20th goals of the seasons, respectively, within a 3:06 frame. 

In the process, Pastrnak earned career 30-goal season, tying Johnny Bucyk for second most in team history. Only Rick Middleton and Phil Esposito have more with eight.

Marchand earned his franchise-best 11th straight 20-goal campaign, surpassing Bucyk and former partner in crime Patrice Bergeron.

Pastrnak didn’t speak to the media following his fourth straight multi-point night. But Marchand took to his stall the first-year Boston captain took a moment to match personal and team success.

“I think the biggest part of that is that I’ve been fortunate to play with a lot of really good players,” the first-year Boston captain said. “I think we’ve been very fortunate to have very good teams here, and we’ve had a lot of team success. So with that comes individual success.”

As more individual milestones await, including his 1,000th career NHL game, appreciative Marchand kept things in perspective after he set another record. 

“It’s great to see that stuff come and go, but I don’t get really caught up in it. I have much bigger goals and aspirations on what that means, and we still have a lot of time left in the year,” Marchand said after finishing his 992nd career tilt. 

“It’s great, but it’s a long way away from where I want to be and where I want to finish. So, yeah it’s great, but it’s a stepping stone to whatever the future brings.”