BOSTON — With a quick stop at home for one game on Thursday, the Bruins punched the clock, gave a workmanlike effort and cashed the two points that were on the table. The B’s raced out to 4-0 lead and nailed down a 6-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden to keep pace in the ultra-competitive Eastern Conference playoff race. The B’s got goals from six different players and big saves from ...

The Boston Bruins' Fraser Minten celebrates his goal against at the TD Garden on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Boston.

Rich Gagnon/Getty Images North America/TNS

BOSTON — With a quick stop at home for one game on Thursday, the Bruins punched the clock, gave a workmanlike effort and cashed the two points that were on the table.

The B’s raced out to 4-0 lead and nailed down a 6-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden to keep pace in the ultra-competitive Eastern Conference playoff race. The B’s got goals from six different players and big saves from Jeremy Swayman (22 saves) when they needed them.

In a season in which little is easy for the B’s, this was a well-timed drama-free win over a Jets team that entered the game with fading playoff hopes in the Western Conference, four points out.

Goals have been hard to come by for the B’s lately, so the deluge was welcomed after losing two straight on the road in overtime.

“They were tight games on the road and we still managed to come out with four points out of six. I think we should be pretty happy with that still. And we came home and took care of business, so that was good,” said Viktor Arvidsson, one of the half dozen goal scorers.

With Detroit’s win over Montreal, the B’s, Habs and Wings all have 84 points. The Habs have one game in hand while the B’s have the advantage over Detroit by virtue of one more regulation win. The B’s travel to Detroit for a big Saturday night tilt.

The B’s took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a David Pastrnak goal.

They got the first power play of the game and though the first unit continued to have it’s troubles, the second unit applied good pressure and Casey Mittelstadt had a strong chance that went off the crossbar. New addition Lukas Reichel also showed some flashes of skill on the second grouping.

The B’s challenged themselves when Pastrnak’s errant stick took a chunk out of Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Bryson’s lip, earning a double-minor.

But the B’s penalty kill, much improved since the Olympic break, did an excellent job of shutting down and frustrating the Jets’ power play.

Pastrnak then gave the B’s the lead at 14:52 after a good shift by the top line that had the Jets pinned in. It looked like Winnipeg was about to escape when Kyle Connor took control of the puck but his backhand chip attempt up the boards was picked off by Pastrnak, who moved toward the slot and ripped his 26th through Connor Hellebuyck.

The B’s held a 13-9 shot advantage in the first.

When the subject of Reichel came up after the morning skate, the first thing that came to coach Marco Sturm’s mind concerning his fellow German was “speed.” Reichel flashed it in the second period to score his first goal as a Bruin in his Black-and-Gold debut. Hellebuyck went behind his net to play the puck but it squirted out front. It didn’t go all that far in front of the net, but Reichel didn’t need much time, bursting at the loose puck and putting it into the empty net at 6:23, beating both Hellebuyck and two Winnipeg defenders to it. It was his first Garden pop.

“It’s awesome. The crowd was always amazing when I played here against the Bruins and it feels even better playing for them,” Reichel said.

Late in the period, the teams traded great chances. First, it looked like slick center Mark Scheifele had set up Gabe Vilardi with a sure backdoor goal but Swayman went post-to-post to make the save.

Then, after an extended period of Winnipeg pressure, Elias Lindholm chipped the puck out and sent Mittelstadt on a breakaway. Mittelstadt made a move to his backhand and had plenty of net to shoot at when Hellebuyck was on his belly but he hit the outside of the post.

But the B’s eventually got that third goal on a hard-working, if not very pretty goal, with 1:44 remaining in the second period. The Pavel Zacha line did a good job winning pucks back until Zacha muscled an aerial puck toward the net. With sticks and the puck in the air in front of Hellebuyck, the puck was knocked home by Arvidsson for his 19th.

The B’s pushed it to 4-0 at 3:15 on another strong shift by the second line. Eventually, Mittelstadt fed Zacha in the left circle and he ripped his 23rd past Hellebuyck for the 4-0 lead.

The Jets did get one back with Hampus Lindholm in the box for hooking. Jonathan Toews deflected an Elias Salomonson shot past Swayman to spoil the shutout bid at 5:38.

That energized the Jets and they started to force the issue. They drew another penalty, a trip on Arvidsson, but this time the B’s PK stiffened and turned the opportunity aside.

To put the finishing touches on it, Fraser Minten (16) tapped home a great Pastrnak pass with 4:08 remaining and then Jonathan Aspirot added another one late. Then the Bruins could turn their focus to Saturday night and big showdown with the Red Wings in Detroit.