BOSTON -- The Perfection Line might need to be called the Historic Line.
And not only because David Pastrnak became the first Bruins player with a six-point night in the playoffs since Rick Middleton back in 1983.
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The Pastrnak/Brad Marchand/Patrice Bergeron line produced a whopping four even-strength goals, three from Pastrnak (who also had three assists), in an overwhelming 7-3 Game 2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden on Saturday night. The three linemates have combined for 20 points in the first two games and have become the most dominating factor in the series, and not just for their offense. They've also played rugged, suffocating defense in clamping down on Auston Matthews inside their own zone.
The former No. 1 overall pick has one goal in seven games against the Bruins, regular season and playoffs, in his two years in the league, and is being schooled by B's players who, for the most part, are older, tougher, more experienced and much more aware of what it takes to win in the postseason. His growing sense of frustration was evident when, when told the Bergeron/Marchand/Pastrnak line has 20 points to his line's zero in the first two games, he responded: "[Expletive] happens. That's hockey."
Maybe it does, but, as the Bruins pointed out, it's not just because of luck or good fortune that [expletive] happens.
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"I mean, I think they're the best line in hockey for a reason," said B's defenseman Torey Krug. "They do things 200 feet in the D-zone and translate it into offense for them, and then they hound the puck like no other team. They're great forecheckers and everyone brings something to the table, so it's definitely tough to defend them. And then they're your best defensive players, as well."
So what happens fron here?
Perhaps Bergeron and Marchand can get more into the goal-scoring action, which so far has been dominated by Pastrnak, but it really doesn't matter to them as long as their line continues to play winning hockey. On Saturday night that included three goals (the fourth goal scored while their line was on the ice was by defenseman Kevan Miller), 14 points and a combined plus-14 rating, with the promise of getting even better given their chemistry and open communication during games.
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"I think we're moving our feet well, but we're communicating after almost every shift about what we're seeing and trying to change things up," said Bergeron. "We had some good looks in the first two games, but we can't stop there. . . . I think it's about keep getting better, keep improving, keep putting . . . games behind us and looking forward and staying in the moment."
The Maple Leafs, he pointed out, are "going to adjust, [so] we're going to try to adjust. That's the type of game [the] playoffs are. [So] we're going to keep going at it, I guess."
Sure, things may be a little different over the next few games in Toronto with the Leafs getting last change and allowing coach Mike Babcock to put out the matchups he desires. But it really might not matter, not with Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak playing as well as they are and with a ramshackle group of Toronto defensemen having no shutdown game right now.
So it's hard to know just what the Perfection Line -- or Historic Line -- can do for an encore. Just maintaining what they've done so far would be plenty.