Lighting The Lamp: Ranking top 20 goals of Bruins' 2019-20 season (20-11)

Regardless of if/when the NHL returns this summer, the stat book on the 2019-20 regular season has officially been closed —  denying “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner David Pastrnak of his campaign toward 50 goals, among other individual pursuits. 

Still, even during an abbreviated 70-game campaign, the Bruins managed to land quite a few punches against the opposition — ranking seventh in the league with 227 goals.

Sure, plenty of those tallies came off the stick of Pastrnak (48), but just about every skater on Bruce Cassidy’s roster chipped in with a number of highlights throughout another promising season for the B’s.

As we await the potential return of NHL hockey — and with the regular season now in the rearview — let’s take a look back at the top 20 goals from Boston’s 2019-20 campaign. We’re judging these entries not only based on difficulty and playmaking needed to set up such a tally — but also off of the added context or weight behind a number of those goals.  

Let’s start with No. 20-11: 

20. Charlie McAvoy breaks through - Feb. 5, 2020



At long last, Charlie McAvoy was finally able to breathe easy following this dramatic win — scoring his first goal of the 2019-20 season in what was his 52nd game of the campaign. 

McAvoy, who last lit the lamp all the way back on May 27, 2019 — Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final — managed to get off the schneid at the perfect time for the B’s. 

With Boston stuck in a 1-1 deadlock with the Blackhawks, McAvoy ended things just 1:19 into the extra period, racing to the blue paint and knocking the puck past Robin Lehner off a feed from Jake DeBrusk — securing a 2-1 victory and Boston’s fifth straight win. 

Although McAvoy was already establishing himself as a two-way force even with a prolonged scoring drought, it was pretty evident over the final month of the regular season that this tally was offering some relief for the defenseman. Just ahead of the pause, McAvoy tallied another four goals and 12 total points over his last 15 games.

19. Anders Bjork fights through - Jan. 13, 2020



After his previous two seasons were lost due to major shoulder surgery, just making it through an entire campaign (albeit shortened) has to be a victory in and of itself for Anders Bjork — who established himself this year as a streaky offensive player with some impressive defensive metrics. 

One area that the Notre Dame product made major strides in this season was his overall strength on the puck, whether it be fighting through contact or even winning battles along the boards.

Bjork’s commitment towards filling out his frame and being tougher in battle situations was validated by this tally in an eventual 6-5 shootout loss to the Flyers — with the winger blowing past defenseman Philippe Myers and sticking with the play even as the Flyer blueliner tied him up with his stick. Failing to quit on the scoring chance, Bjork fired the puck home on a backhand shot — past a sprawling Carter Hart. 

18. Marchand lights the lamp in Las Vegas - Oct. 8, 2019



After a bit of a slow start (slow for them meaning only two total points through two games) to the 2019-20 season, Boston’s top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Pastrnak imposed its will against the Golden Knights in this matchup — combining for seven total points (three goals, four assists) in a 4-3 win at T-Mobile Arena. 

After burying his second goal of the year on the power play at 18:58 in the first period, Marchand made the Knights pay again just 33 seconds after the opening intermission.

Things went sideways for Vegas shortly after Shea Theodore failed to chip a puck into Boston’s zone, with Pastrnak recovering it before it could sail behind a wall of B’s skaters. With Marchand already on the move through the neutral zone, Pastrnak banked the puck off the boards and right to Marchand — who skated in unopposed against Marc-Andre Fleury.

The B’s top left winger did not miss. 

17. Krejci ties it up - Nov. 23, 2019



While a more memorable goal ultimately stole the spotlight on a wild night at TD Garden, let’s not discount the role that David Krejci played in Boston’s 5-4 OT win over the Wild back in November. 

Trailing Minnesota, 4-2, in the final two minutes of regulation, Krejci gave Boston new life at 18:05 — tapping home his third goal of the season to bring the B’s within one. After a brutal tripping call against Luke Kunin just seconds later, Krejci made the Wild pay once again — rifling a one-time blast past Alex Stalock just 48 seconds after his first tally to knot things up at 4-4 and force overtime. 

Stick tap on this goal also goes to B’s assistant equipment manager Matt Falconer, who handed Bergeron a new twig just seconds after the center snapped his on Boston’s extended O-zone possession. Just seconds after crossing over the blue line with a brand-new stick, Bergeron fed the puck over to Krejci for the equalizer. 

16. Krug down the slot - Feb. 1, 2020



No, this will not be the only time Krug earns a spot on this list for torturing Minnesota’s defense (although you’ll have to wait for tomorrow for that tally). 

Still, Krug was a force in what was ultimately a 6-1 thrashing against the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center — with the B’s blueliner leading the way with two goals and four total points on the night.

Even though Krug came up short of being the first Bruins defenseman to tally a hat trick since Zdeno Chara accomplished the feat on Jan. 17, 2011, he still managed to make the most of his tallies — headlined by this impressive drive to the net. 

15. The Mayor cashes in - Oct. 29, 2019



He may not be the deadliest goal scorer on the B’s roster (35 goals in 317 games), but Chris Wagner is pretty damn effective on breakaway bids — so much so that Cassidy has even deployed the Walpole native during shootout situations. 

With the puck on his stick and plenty of ice in front of him, Wagner often tends to go five-hole against the opposing goalie — with Martin Jones standing as the latest to get beat by “The Mayor”. Not a bad way to tally your first goal of the season, that’s for sure. 

14. Coyle breaks Rangers at MSG - Feb. 16, 2020



While the Bruins are near the bottom of the league in shorthanded goals scored (26th overall with just five tallies), Charlie Coyle has been responsible for a pair of them — headlined by this breakaway against the Rangers in what was an eventual 3-1 win for the B’s in the Big Apple. 

A potent Rangers power play headlined by Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad appeared poised to erase Boston’s one-goal lead during the second period, but a heads-up play from Coyle erased such sentiment — with the Weymouth native intercepting a pass out to Jacob Trouba and taking off into the neutral zone. 

With Coyle racing ahead and Brandon Carlo tying up the Rangers skaters in pursuit, the B’s center was given plenty of time to bury his chance, lifting the puck past the glove of Alexandar Georgiev to give Boston a 2-0 lead. 

13. Pinball Wizard - Nov. 2, 2019



It never gets old, does it? 

He’s pulled this out of his bag of tricks numerous times before, but opposing defenses still just don’t seem to learn that Krug can make a whole lot of something out of nothing thanks to the springy end boards at TD Garden. 

The Senators were the latest club to be on the wrong side of Krug’s playmaking prowess, with the B’s power-play QB uncorking a slap shot that carried the puck down the ice and off the end boards.

As expected, the bank pass managed to ricochet right to a charging David Pastrnak, who promptly scooped up the biscuit, took a quick stride toward the slot and tucked the offering past Craig Anderson — opening the scoring in what was an eventual 5-2 win for Boston. 

12. Blind feed - Jan. 16, 2020



For a guy more well known for burying goals — rather than orchestrating them — Pastrnak’s creativity with the puck and next-level chemistry with his linemates often lead to some absurd set-ups throughout an NHL campaign. 

Pastrnak was at it again during this eventual 4-1 win for the B’s over the Penguins back In January. What seemed like a harmless sequence for Pittsburgh went downhill in a hurry, with Pastrnak gathering a skittering puck at the blue line after John Marino was unable to clear it out. 

Without hesitating — and with his back turned to whatever was developing across the rest of the B’s offensive zone — Pastrnak whipped a spinning, no-look feed into the slot. Sure enough, an advancing Bergeron was there to receive the pass, wristing the offering past Tristan Jarry to put the Pens behind the eight-ball before they even knew what hit ‘em. 

This wasn’t the first time Pastrnak made a defense look silly, as he kept a puck away from Auston Matthews and set up a tally for Marchand off of another nifty no-look pass back on Oct. 22 against the Maple Leafs.



11. Pastrnak makes Canucks pay  - Feb. 22, 2020


Granted, there weren’t a whole lot of highlights to take away from this matchup, in which Vancouver obliterated Boston, 9-3, at Rogers Arena. 

Boston could at least take some solace off of another impressive showing from Pastrnak, who opened the scoring for Boston with this impressive breakaway tally. After a perfectly executed stretch pass from Matt Grzelcyk put Pastrnak on a clear lane toward Jacob Markström, Pastrnak made quick work of the Vancouver goalie — dispatching him with a pair of filthy dekes. 

We’ll unveil the rest of our list on Friday morning.