The Boston Bruins look to extend their winning streak to four games overall and two since David Pastrnak’s return from injury when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night as part of a three-game road swing through the Central Division.

Pastrnak, 29, made an immediate impact in Tuesday’s 5-2 victory over former coach Jim Montgomery’s St. Louis Blues, recording three assists, three shots, and a plus-2 rating while skating on the third line with 23-year-old Marat Khusnutdinov and 21-year-old Fraser Minten, who scored twice.

“Just three young kids playing together,” Pastrnak said jokingly. “It was fun.”

His return prompted lineup adjustments by first-year coach Marco Sturm, including a fourth line featuring Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelic (two goals), and Sean Kuraly (two assists). Kastelic and Minten each notched their first multi-goal games of the season, and Pavel Zacha capped Boston’s three-goal third period with an empty-net goal.

“For me, it’s just all about character. That’s what we have in this room,” Sturm said. “Some guys had to go down a line, and they didn’t complain at all. They just got the job done. That is what good teams do—they don’t complain, they just work.”

Pastrnak remains the Bruins’ assists leader (21) and is tied for points lead (32) with Morgan Geekie, who contributed four goals and four assists during Pastrnak’s absence. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy is nearing a return after suffering a jaw injury on Nov. 15, having regained some of the 20 pounds lost while on a liquid diet.

“I am going on the trip with the expectation, I am hoping, that I’ll be able to get back in,” McAvoy said Monday.

The Jets enter Thursday’s game following a 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars, marking their second consecutive defeat and eighth in 10 games (2-7-1). Mark Scheifele scored twice to reclaim the team lead with 16 goals, while Logan Stanley also scored and Kyle Connor added two assists. Despite outshooting Dallas 33-19, Winnipeg struggled on the penalty kill, going 2-for-4 and allowing at least one power-play goal for the sixth straight game.

“The hard part is we didn’t get any clears when we needed to. And then when your penalty killers are that tired and they have a good power play, they’re going to move the puck around,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “We caught their penalty killers tired at the end. It needs to be better.”

Arniel recently shuffled lines to spark more consistent offense, moving Gabriel Vilardi down from the top line to join Adam Lowry and Nino Niederreiter. On the injury front, Connor Hellebuyck returned for Wednesday’s optional practice after undergoing knee surgery on Nov. 21, with Eric Comrie starting nine of the 10 games in his absence.

Thursday’s matchup will test whether the Bruins can maintain momentum with Pastrnak back and if the Jets can turn their positives into victories against a playoff-contending opponent. -Field Level Media/Reuters