David Pastrnak Continues to Shine

When the Boston Bruins drafted David Pastrnak in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, they knew they were getting a skilled scorer. And he has never disappointed. Even when he has hit a dry spell, he’s continued to work hard. He may have experienced a typical sophomore slump during the 2015/16 season, but his most recent three seasons have seen him finding the the back of the twine with consistency:

• 2016/17: 34 goals, 36 assists for 70 points in 75 games played (regular season)
• 2017/18: 35 goals, 45 assists for 80 points in 82 games played (regular season)
• 2018/19: 38 goals, 43 assists for 81 points in 66 games played (regular season)

He experienced a hand injury during the second half of last season, and when he returned his play wasn’t at the level everyone had come to expect, and that unfortunately plagued him into the postseason.

However, that is clearly no longer a concern. He’s eating his Wheaties—well technically if it’s a matinee game, then it’s breakfast before a game and for him that’s “classic eggs and pancakes.” Which was what he told the media he had before last Monday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks in which he scored four goals. He followed that up three days later with two goals and an assist against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Saturday’s game in Toronto he added another goal and an assist.

He was named as the NHL First Star of the week ending October 20.

As things got underway in Boston Tuesday night as the Bruins welcomed the Toronto Maple Leafs, They undoubtedly wanted a stronger game than the 4-3 overtime loss on Saturday. It looked like perhaps the Leafs were planning to control the game. However, a lengthy and gritty play in front of the Leafs backup goalie, Michael Hutchinson, saw what looked to be the first goal of the game off of Pastrnak’s stick.

It was not to be. Toronto’s head coach Mike Babcock challenged the goal as offsides. The goal was reversed, as Patrice Bergeron had been deemed offside approximately 30 seconds earlier when the Bruins had initially entered the Leafs end. But offside is offside and the goal was overturned.

The Bruins are never happy when that happens, but it often motivates them to try all the harder, and such was the response in Tuesday’s game. Where they had been outshot in the period up to that point, they began to tilt the ice in their favor at least in shots.

While on the power play after Andreas Johnsson was sent off for a hooking penalty, at 16:26 of the first the Bruins were once again on the score board less than a minute into the man advantage when Pastrnak was able to take a pass from Brad Marchand, drag it through his legs and backhand it on Hutchinson in a highlight reel goal.

Marchand and Pastrnak would trade places on the Bruins second goal of the game, where Marchand got the goal and Pastrnak the assist.

“Everything catches my eye with [Pastrnak] lately. He’s just on it, he’s on pucks, he’s strong, his conditioning seems great. He’s playing a lot of minutes, hard minutes against good players every night. Play-making ability, he’s making plays as well, getting his shot off. I think last year he was fighting the puck a little bit in the playoffs, for whatever reason. I think it was rust to be honest with you, a few times late in the year. He’s spot on this year,” said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. “I think he’s stronger on the puck so he can be a little more creative. Maybe when he first broke in, he tried some of those moves, he’d get — not hit, but, you know, a piece of him, and he wasn’t able to hang on to it, so it’d come back the other way. Now, he can turn out of some of those, absorb some of the hit and still make the play. So some of it’s just physical strength, he’s able to have the puck longer. Confidence, obviously, right now he’s confident with his moves. Like that spin move to the front of the net, so that has a little bit to do with it. Right now, when you’re feeling it, you tend to make a lot of right decisions. When you’re not feeling it, seems like every decision you make isn’t good, when there’s some level of risk-reward, so that’s part of it. Probably comfort in the league helps, he’s had record success. Put all those things together and I think he’s valued the other part of the game too, when to not put your teammates in a bad spot, more maturity.”

The season is just nine games in for the Bruins, and in the last seven, Pastrnak has amassed ten goals and seven assists for 17 points. 

In addition to the confidence that is noticeable in his movement on the ice and that strength and maturity that Coach Cassidy described, what isn’t there is an arrogance that he is somehow better than the team. That speaks to his linemates and also to some of that maturity and knowledge of what it takes to succeed in the NHL.

He’s on a streak and it will be interesting to see how that continues when the Bruins take on the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. The two teams as of Tuesday night had each played nine games, with the Bruins having a 6-1-2 record while the Blues record is currently 4-2-3, though St. Louis does play the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday in St. Louis before heading to Boston.