David Pastrnak sniffing 50 goals again
The goals had not been coming easily for David Pastrnak lately. Going into Monday’s 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators, he had just one goal in his last six games.
And though that one was a huge goal (the 4-on-4 overtime winner in Dallas), it’s clear opponents are doing what they could to take him away from the Bruins’ formidable attack. Until Monday, he had not scored a 5-on-5 goal since Jan. 28 in Florida and he hasn’t scored a power-play goal since Jan. 22 against San Jose.
That wasn’t going to last for long, of course. Pastrnak scored twice in the victory, potting the gamewinner and the insurance goal, both at even strength and both helped out by excellent plays by Charlie Mcavoy.
“I thought he was hanging on to pucks a lot. His speed was very noticeable,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “When he’s really on, like he was tonight, it jumps out at you. When he has his B game, it still jumps out at you. That’s how good he is. And he was just ultra- creative. I thought him and Charlie Mcavoy were special tonight.”
The two goals showed the diversity of Pastrnak’s arsenal. On the first one, Mcavoy made a beautiful spin move to beat his man and get the puck to Pastrnak, who finished it off with a goalscorer’s snipe from the left circle. On the second one, Mcavoy sent him away on a breakaway with a pass from one knee high in the Boston zone. Pastrnak threw a shoulder fake at goalie Kevin Mandolese and slipped a backhander between his pads.
Linus Ullmark marveled at Pastrnak’s gifts.
“It’s the way he can do everything. He’s not just a (one-timer) kind of guy,” said Ullmark. “He’s got the dangles, he’s got the moves. And he’s very poised, very calm when he has opportunities. You see the first goal he had today. He had a lot of time and then he just picks his corner and rips it.”
The first goal was his 40th, the third time he’s hit that plateau, and the second one brought him to within one of Connor McDavid for the league lead. With 26 games left, he has a very good chance to
notch his first 50-goal season. He was robbed of one in 2020 when the pandemic shut down the league and he was stuck on 48. He would be the first Bruin to hit 50 since Cam Neely did it in 1993-94.
“You always want to get better every year and I haven’t scored 50 yet. So it would obviously be nice,” said Pastrnak. “To me, I’m here to score goals and it’s nice that it’s going in. I have unbelievable linemates that are looking for
me and it’s a big reason why I’m doing so well.” …
Salute to Krejci
One of those linemates Pastrnak spoke of was David Krejci, who was honored before the game for his 1,000th game in a pregame ceremony. He played the milestone game on Jan. 16 but the club saved the ceremony for a time when his family and friends could come over from Czechia and his wife and two children were up from their home in South Carolina.
“I’ve been on the bench for a few of the guys, so I knew what to expect a little bit. But it was more than I expected. It was a pretty special moment, having my family there,” said Krejci. “It was special moment and I’m very, very thankful that I’m part of this team.”
The pregame ceremony included messages on the Jumbotron from teammates past and present, including Milan Lucic, Torey Krug and Czech icon Jaromir Jagr. He was presented with a portrait from team president Cam Neely, a silver stick from GM Don Sweeney, Bruins’ legend Johnny Bucyk presented him with a Tiffany crystal from the NHL and he was presented with a Rolex watch from teammates Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Pastrnak.
“It’s amazing and well deserved. He’s been a Bruin his whole career and it’s amazing to get 1,000 games. That’s a lot of years,” Said Pastrnak. “We’re all happy for him and we wanted to get the win for him and his family and his kids and there were a bunch of people from the Czech Republic, too. It was definitely a big game for him to enjoy but at the same time it was as big for him as it was for the whole team. We really wanted to get that win for him.”
At the end of the game, Pastrnak turned down an opportunity to notch a hat trick with an empty net to try and get Krejci a tally, but it didn’t connect.
“It speaks volumes about their friendship and also about the unselfishness on our team. It’s been like that all year, where someone is always trying to help someone else out, not worrying about themselves,” said Montgomery. …
Debrusk bounces back
Jake Debrusk scored his second goal in as many games since coming back after missing 17 games with hand and leg injuries.
“Any time the puck goes in the net, everything feels great,” said a beaming DeBrusk. …
Record pace
With the victory, the B’s tied the 1979- 80 Philadelphia Flyers for requiring the fewest games to 90 points (56). The win pushed the B’s to 91 points.