Pasta Scores Two, McAvoy Has Four Helpers and DiPietro Blanks the Predators in 6-0 Homecoming Win

By Soapz · Oct 22, 2026

Now THAT is how you come home. After almost two weeks on the road, the Bruins walked back into TD Garden on Thursday night and gave the Predators absolutely nothing. Six different goals, six different moments to stand up and cheer, and a clean sheet for Michael DiPietro. Final score: Bruins 6, Predators 0.

Captain David Pastrnak had two goals and two assists. Charlie McAvoy had four assists. DiPietro stopped all 28 shots he saw. Those three were your three stars, and honestly, you could have handed out a few more. The B's are now 8-2-1 with 17 points, and they're still sitting on top of the Atlantic.

Grab a snack, because there's a lot to get through. Here's how it went down.

First period: Mittsy early, Lindy on the PP

It didn't take long. At 3:49 of the first, Pastrnak found Casey Mittelstadt, and Mittsy snapped one past Justus Annunen to make it 1-0. McAvoy picked up the second assist. That's Mittelstadt's third goal of the year, and the building was loud right away.

Late in the period, Nicolas Hague went off for holding Pastrnak at 16:23, and the power play needed just 15 seconds. McAvoy and Pavel Zacha moved it around, and Elias Lindholm tipped it in at 16:38. 2-0. That's Lindy's fourth of the season, and after an 0-for-4 night in Dallas, it was great to see the PP cash in on the first look.

The Bruins went to the room up two and outshooting Nashville 12-8. DiPietro hadn't been tested much yet, but he was square to everything he saw.

Second period: Pasta and JJ blow it open

This was the period where the game got away from Nashville. At 9:46, McAvoy and Zacha teamed up again, and Pastrnak got his stick on it for a tip-in. 3-0. The captain was on the board, and McAvoy had his third assist of the night before the game was even half over.

Then came JJ. At 17:21, Pastrnak set up Jesperi Peterka, and Peterka kept working at the net until he wired a wrist shot home. 4-0. That's his fourth goal of the year, and that second effort is exactly the kind of play coaches love. Roman Josi took a cross-checking penalty on McAvoy at 19:14, so the B's carried a power play into the third with a four-goal cushion.

Third period: Kasty and the captain finish it

McAvoy took a high-sticking penalty at 1:31 of the third, and the penalty kill took care of it with no trouble. Then it was Kastelic's turn. At 6:50, Matthew Poitras and Tanner Jeannot worked it in deep, and Mark Kastelic cleaned it up with a backhand. 5-0. Kasty's second goal of the season, and you could tell how much the bench loved it.

The captain wasn't done. At exactly 15:00, Frederic Brunet and McAvoy got the puck to Pastrnak, and he snapped home his second of the night. 6-0. That was McAvoy's fourth assist, and it gave Pasta four points on the night and six goals on the season.

From there, it was all about DiPietro getting the shutout over the line, and he did. The Garden gave him a big send-off, and he earned every bit of it.

DiPietro was perfect

A 6-0 score can make it look like the goalie had a quiet night. He didn't. Nashville put 28 shots on goal, and DiPietro stopped all of them. He was calm and in position all night, and when the Preds did get a look, he was there. Nights like this from your backup are how you win a lot of hockey games over 82.

At the other end, Annunen played the full 60 minutes for Nashville and finished with 25 saves on 31 shots.

Chucky ran the show

Four assists for McAvoy. He set up Mittelstadt, Lindholm, the first Pastrnak goal and the second Pastrnak goal. He was a +3 and played 19:01 on a night when nobody needed to play big minutes. When he's moving the puck like that, the whole team plays faster.

And Pasta was right there with him. Two goals, two assists, a +4 and the second star of the night, right behind DiPietro.

Everybody chipped in

Zacha had two assists and a +4. Brunet set up the final goal in 18:18 of ice time. Poitras won every faceoff he took and picked up an assist on the Kastelic goal, and Jeannot had a helper too. James Hagens didn't score, but he put four shots on net and blocked three shots, which tells you how engaged he was.

Marat Khusnutdinov didn't land on the scoresheet, but he played 14:22 in his middle-six role and chipped in a hit and a blocked shot. On a night like this, everybody did their job.

Looking ahead: Sharks on Saturday

The Bruins stay home and host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on NESN. Then they head to Carolina on Tuesday. Things to watch: Does the power play keep building after going 1-for-3 tonight? Who gets the net on Saturday after DiPietro's shutout? And can this team start a new streak right here at home?

Our takeaways

What a homecoming. Six goals, a shutout and the Garden rocking all night. The captain led the way. Pastrnak had two goals and two assists. McAvoy was everywhere. Four assists, and he was in on four of the six goals. DiPietro answered the call. 28 saves and the shutout. The PP got one. Lindholm's tip was a nice step after Dallas.

8-2-1, first in the Atlantic, and back home where they belong. Let's go, B's. 🐻

← Back to Front Page