The Colorado Avalanche boast some of the best high-end skill in the NHL, including current Hart Trophy frontrunner Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar, who is being mentioned in the same breath as Bobby Orr these days.

When they’re at their best, the Avs are a breathtaking combination of speed and skill.

But the Bruins’ top guys take a back seat to no one in the league and on Thursday at the Garden, they showed it.

Coach Jim Montgomery loaded up with his top two defensemen, Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy, paired with the top line of Charlie Coyle, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand to go against the Avs’ top pairing of Makar and Devon Toews and the top line of McKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Jonathan Drouin.

And what did the battle of the behomoth’s produce? A David Pastrnak hat trick (Nos. 27, 28, 29) and a hard-earned 5-2 victory for the Bruins over the Avalanche.

“I think it was a challenge that all five guys wanted,” said Montgomery. “I don’t know if it was a statement game, but I just like how our game is building. You can see the confidence throughout the lineup with how we’re playing with the puck.”

The B’s came out throwing haymakers in the first, had to weather a Colorado flurry in the second and then produced one of their best shutdown third periods of the season, limiting the Avs to just four shots before finally putting the game on ice with a late power-play goal by Pastrnak.

Pastrnak fired 13 shots at the net and landed eight on a night that could lift him into the Hart conversation as well.

“Those are fun always,” said Pastrnak of the matchup. “You always want to play against the top players. Nate is a little tougher. You wouldn’t mind if you stay away from their line. They’ve been playing unbelievable. But it’s always challenging and good motivation to play against them. He and Mikko have been unbelievable together. It’s fun to play against those guys.”

But as intriguing as the five-man mano-a-mano was, it was the B’s depth that swayed the game in their favor. Jake DeBrusk had his best 200-foot game of the year, notching what turned out to be the winning goal, making a sweet pass to Pastrnak late in the game to give the B’s some breathing space in the third and using his legs to backcheck, snuffing out a couple of promising looking Colorado chances.

DeBrusk has left his first half doldrums behind him.

“It seems to be getting repetitive here in the second half. It seems every game is his best game of the year,” said Montgomery. “That’s a credit to him, because his details, his habits … that play to Pasta? That’s a high-end play on the power-play goal.”

It wouldn’t be a Bruins win without a major contribution from a goaltender, and Jeremy Swayman did that, making 32 saves to nail down his third straight win.

The B’s sent the message early that they were ready to play. On the first shift of the game, the top unit pinned the Avs back in their zone until Coyle poked the puck away from Makar, right to Pastrnak, who circled out and beat Alexander Georgiev for his 27th of the year just 44 seconds into the game.

Jakub Lauko gave them a 2-0 advantage with his first goal of the year at 4:58. Lindholm stopped a clear attempt along the left wall and got the puck down low to Morgan Geekie. Spotting the wide open Lauko on the left side, Geekie got it to him for the easy open net backhander.

The B’s had their momentum stunted briefly after Oskar Steen was called for tripping on what looked like incidental contact. The B’s were able to kill off the penalty but before they were able to get another man into the play, Miles Wood somehow sneaked a follow-up shot through Swayman’s shortside.

But DeBrusk got the B’s their two-goal lead back at 14:52 with his 10th of the season. With DeBrusk cutting through the slot, Parker Wotherspoon connected on a pass that DeBrusk deflected past Georgiev from the high slot.

Colorado coach Jared Bednar challenged for offside on Pavel Zacha on the zone entry, but it was ruled Zacha had “possession and control of the puck as he entered the attacking zone.” The B’s could not put the hammer down on the ensuing power play, however.

The Avs picked up the pace in the second, outshooting the B’s 17-8 and, after some close calls, they finally pulled to within one with 3:40 left in the period. Swayman stopped a long shot from the left point from Josh Manson, but it got under and behind him. It didn’t go over the line, but MacKinnon located it before Swayman could and tapped it home.

Colorado would start the third period with a power play, and it sure felt like the Avs were ready to soar. But the B’s never let them get airborne.

After grinding the period out with a one-goal lead, the B’s finally put it away after Manson high-sticked Coyle and, with 2:36 left, DeBrusk cut to the middle of the ice before he slipped a pass down low to Pastrnak for a tip and a 4-2 lead. Coyle then made sure that Pastrnak got the hat trick with the Colorado net empty.

And while Montgomery didn’t want to call it a statement win, it is sure feeling like his team just might have something to say this season after all.

Bruins star David Pastrnak throws a hat after his hat trick goal during the third period at the TD Garden. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)