James Hagens spent 10:37 of 5-on-5 against Jack Eichel on Monday, and Conor Ryan says the Bruins came out ahead.
Boston beat Vegas 3-2 in a shootout Monday night, and Hagens scored his sixth goal of the season. Coach Marco Sturm's third line got the toughest assignment on the board again.
Ryan called it another daunting matchup against Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone. In those minutes, he noted, the Bruins outscored Vegas 1-0 and led 3-0 in high-danger scoring chances.
Eichel finished without a point and went minus-1 in 24:57, while Stone did score for Vegas on the power play. Hagens played 17:27 and put three shots on goal.
The season line now reads 6 goals and 6 assists for 12 points in 16 games, with a +7 rating. Over his NHL career, Hagens is at 18 games, 6 goals and 7 assists.
Ryan's reaction to the goal was short. He wrote that Hagens is "at it again" with six goals and 12 points in 16 games.
Why Sturm should keep the Mittelstadt-Lindholm-Hagens line together
Elias Lindholm leads the trio with 13 points and two game-winning goals. Casey Mittelstadt has 9 points and a +9 rating, and he was on the ice for the Bruins' win without picking up a point.
Lindholm has been a big part of the kid's development. Hagens spoke about what the veteran has taught him on and off the ice just before this matchup.
Ryan floated the idea of a nickname for the group and said he's not sure the trio should be split up. Given what a line like this does against Vegas's best, he's right. Breaking up a line that wins its matchups would be a mistake.
Hagens sounded like a player who is settling in. Jack Studley passed along his words after the game:
"It's nice to be here. It's nice to be a part of this, and day by day you feel more comfortable and that comes with just the guys in this room."
The win pushed Boston to 11-4-1, first in the Atlantic Division and third in the NHL. Jeremy Swayman's start in net made 21 saves, and the Bruins have won two straight.
Next up is a game at Pittsburgh on Thursday. The Penguins are 5-7-2 and host Vegas tonight, so Sturm will get a look at who survives that matchup before deciding who his top line draws next.
