MONTREAL — David Pastrnak played just eight shifts Tuesday night for a total of 7 minutes, 8 seconds of ice time, but the 19-year-old winger packed a lot of punch into that span.

Pastrnak picked up an assist on Patrice Bergeron’s winner late in the second period and then, on his first shift of the third, delivered the much-needed pad goal at 12:14 to send the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 victory.

It was his first game back after missing three with an upper-body injury and just his 14th NHL game of the season, thanks to a broken foot that kept him out for seven weeks.

He played primarily on the fourth line with Max Talbot and Zac Rinaldo.

“He did a great job,” Coach Claude Julien said. “We put him on the fourth line so not to have to play (him) against top lines. At the same time, we put him with two guys who work their butts off and create things. When I put him out there in the middle of the third period, I said, ‘Guys, go out there and have a great shift for us.’ Not only that, (Pastrnak) did a great job of jumping on that loose puck and scoring that insurance goal. He did a great job there, and for a young player who hasn’t played in a while, it was a great start for him.”

Pastrnak was happy to contribute to the victory.

“It felt good,” he said. “It felt nice to be back, and I was focusing on being good in the D-zone and do the small things.”

Pastrnak said he felt the injury a little but was well enough to play through it. Now he’s hoping the injury bug is behind him.

“I’ve missed a lot of hockey and that’s frustrating for any player. But there’s nothing I can do about that. There’s still a lot of hockey left, and I have to get back and help the team get better every day. There’s a lot of games left,” Pastrnak said.

Pastrnak took the place of Landon Ferraro, who was scratched because of a lower-body injury. He’s day-to-day.

Hurricanes: Carolina placed veteran goalie Cam Ward on injured reserve with a concussion.

General Manager Ron Francis also said Wednesday that the team has recalled goalie Daniel Altshuller from its minor-league affiliate in Charlotte.

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

BLUES 2, RED WINGS 1: Brian Elliott stopped 29 shots, Dmitri Jaskin scored a key third-period goal and St. Louis won at Detroit.

Ty Rattie also scored for St. Louis. Elliott came within 2:13 of becoming the first goalie in 69 games to shut out the Red Wings, but Henrik Zetterberg spoiled his bid with a power-play goal through a screen.

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