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Bruins Forward Leads Team To Landmark Victory

The Boston Bruins were able to capture a dominant opening night win over the Washington Capitals.

Jennifer Streeter

Oct 8, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) skates with the puck against behind Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) as Washington Capitals right wing Justin Sourdif (34) chases during the first period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Oct 8, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) skates with the puck against behind Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) as Washington Capitals right wing Justin Sourdif (34) chases during the first period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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There are some things in life that are just a given — for the Boston Bruins, one of those givens is David Pastrnak coming up big in a season opener.

Day two of the NHL's regular-season opening games saw Boston take down the Washington Capitals on the road with a final score of 2-1 as the clock hit 0:00 in the third period. Pastrnak led the way for the Bruins, the right wing finished the night with one goal, two assists and two shots on goal at Capital One Arena.

Despite it being previously reported entering the game against Washington that Pastrnak was dealing with some tendinitis throughout training camp, the 29-year-old righty opened the scoring for the night in the second period with a snap-shot goal.

This goal put Pastrnak in sole possession of the third-most opening night points in Boston's history, with 15.

Washington's Tom Wilson answered back in the third period with a snap-shot goal of his own; he was assisted by Jakob Chychryn and Aliaksei Protas.

Pastrnak then assisted Elias Lindholm on the power play during the third period at the 7:41 mark to increase his total to 16 opening night points. He is now only one behind Johnny Bucyk (17) and 14 points behind Ray Bourque (30).

Washington went for the empty note towards the end of the third period, but it didn't go in the Capitals favor with former third-round pick Morgan Geekie quickly tallying an unassisted goal as a result. Pastrnak set the goal up, for his final point of the night — which now places him only at 17 total points scored in seasoning opening games.

Fellow Bruins Nikita Zadorov and Pavel Zacha also logged points, with one apiece.

The Capitals entered the 2025-26 season with high expectations and plenty of eyes on them; Washington is coming off a previous season that saw league legend Alex Ovechkin surpass Wayne Gretzky's all-time leading scorer milestone in April.

A Boston legend, Pastrnak was originally drafted by the Bruins with the No. 25 overall pick back in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Since then, he has played over 700 games in a Bruins sweater and has tallied over 800 points.

The win over the Capitals also marked Marco Sturm's first career win as head coach. The former Bruins forward was named the replacement for Joe Sacco back in June. Boston will continue their season by hosting the Chicago Blackhawks for its home opener in a 24-hour turnaround.

In addition to Pastrnak's success in season-opening games, the Bruins as a franchise now boast a 11-3-0 record across the last 14 years in opening night.

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Jennifer Streeter
JENNIFER STREETER

Jennifer Streeter graduated with a B.A. in journalism from Texas A&M and received her Master of Science from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. At both schools, she focused on an emphasis of sports reporting. A former athlete herself, "Jenny" was a varsity soccer player and comes from a family who participated in NCAA athletics. She has covered everything from the 2025 Hughes Bowl, SEC football, Ivy League athletics, the 2023 ALCS and the 2023 World Series, the WNBA, and much more.

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