Boston Bruins forward Danton Heinen of Langley, British Columbia registered his first career National Hockey League hat trick on Saturday. He accomplished the feat in a 9-4 Bruins win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Toronto Dominion Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Heinen’s first goal put the Bruins up 3-2 with 55 seconds left in the first period. Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy picked up the assists. In the second period, Heinen put the Bruins up 4-3 at 10:46. Jesper Boqvist and Hampus Lindholm picked up the assists. Then in the third period, Heinen closed out the scoring with a power-play goal at 10:40 of the final frame. Morgan Geekie of Strathclair, Manitoba and Kevin Shattenkirk had the assists.
Heinen was one of three Bruins with a multi-point game. Jake DeBrusk of Edmonton, Alberta and Brad Marchand of Halifax, Nova Scotia had one goal and one assist each for two points.
On the season, Heinen has eight goals and nine assists for 17 points in 37 games. He is a +11 with 18 penalty minutes, one power-play point, two game-winning goals, 69 shots on goal, six faceoff wins, 24 blocked shots, 27 hits, 25 takeaways and eight giveaways. Heinen’s first game-winning goal this season came on November 30 in a 3-0 Bruins win over the San Jose Sharks. Heinen scored from Matthew Poitras of Ajax, Ontario at 1:39 of the second period to open the scoring. Heinen’s second game-winning goal this season came on December 9 in a 5-3 Bruins win over the Arizona Coyotes. Heinen scored from Poitras and Trent Frederic at 9:12 of the second period. The goal put the Bruins up 4-2 at the time.
With the win, the Bruins improved to a record of 28 wins, eight regulation losses, and nine losses in extra time for 65 points overall. They have the best record in the Eastern Conference.
