BOSTON — It doesn’t look like David Pastrnak is going anywhere.
The dynamic 18-year-old rookie, who still could be sent to Providence if the Boston Bruins want to save burning the first year of his entry level contract, is likely staying put. On Tuesday night, the right winger delivered his second straight two-goal game, powering his team to its fourth straight win, a 4-3 decision over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Pastrnak, who recently returned from the World Junior Championships, where he had a spectacular overtime goal and six assists for the Czech Republic, scored the first two goals of his NHL career in a 3-0 win at Philadelphia on Saturday. Tuesday night, he struck again as the Bruins erased a pair of one-goal deficits for their ninth straight win over the Lightning — and their ninth in a row at TD Garden.
Pastrnak, who had seven shots on goal in his eighth NHL game, had a couple of prime chances to finish the hat trick but came up short.
Later in the period, right winger Ryan Callahan scored on a deflection in front of Tuukka Rask to cut the Bruins lead to 4-3 with 5:42 left.
Left winger Milan Lucic, who also had an assist, and left winger Brad Marchand also scored for Boston, which got two assists apiece from center David Krejci and defenseman Torey Krug.
The Lighting, who came in off a 7-3 loss at Philadelphia that saw All-Star center Tyler Johnson and top defenseman Victor Hedman get hurt, got two goals from center Steven Stamkos, his 24th and 25th goals of the season.
Rask stopped 16 shots in raising his career record against Tampa Bay to 8-2. Former University of Maine standout Ben Bishop suffered the loss in the Lighting net, falling to 0-3-1 lifetime against the Bruins.
Bishop made 30 saves for the Lightning, the Eastern Conference leaders.
Stamkos, who left TD Garden in an ambulance with a broken leg the last time he played in Boston — Nov. 11, 2013 — scored off a pair of passes from left wing Ondrej Palat, the second a kick pass from off the boards. It was the fifth multi-goal game of the year for Stamkos, but his first since Nov. 9.
His goals gave his team leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but Pastrnak, who rang one off the outside of the post earlier in the period, broke down the left side off a pass from Lucic, broke around defenseman Matt Carle and beat Bishop to tie the game with 4:36 left in the second period.
Before the end of the period, Lucic got a pass from Krejci, broke in alone on the left and was stopped by Bishop — but the puck hit defenseman Anton Stralman and went in.
Krejci, involved in a rare scuffle midway through the third period, has seven assists in the last six games.
The Bruins have had a two-goal scorer in each of the four games during the winning streak — the run coming after club CEO Charlie Jacobs said his team’s struggles were “unacceptable” and hinting at changes.
Defenseman Nikita Nesterov picked up an assist on the second Tampa Bay goal, his first NHL point.
NOTES: Neither All-Star C Tyler Johnson, the league’s plus-minus leader, nor D Victor Hedman, who both sustained lower-body injuries in Tampa Bay’s 7-3 loss at Philadelphia on Monday night, is expected to miss serious time. “They were freak things,” coach Jon Cooper said Tuesday morning. “They weren’t dirty plays, they weren’t anything like that. It was the grind of the season, getting caught in the wrong place, wrong time. It sucks.” … The Bruins have until after Thursday night’s game against the New York Rangers to decide whether to keep 18-year-old rookie RW David Pastrnak or send him to AHL Providence. If he stays, he burns a year of his entry-level contract, but the Bruins clearly need his offensive talent. … The Lightning recalled C Vladislav Namestnikov from AHL Syracuse. … With the Tampa Bay defense thin after Hedman’s injury, C Brian Boyle, who played some defense at Boston College and with the Los Angeles Kings, dropped back to help out.