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BOSTON — It didn’t matter that on Sunday, the Boston Bruins were playing their third game in four nights. Or that it was their second straight game after returning from Toronto early Sunday morning.
David Pastrnak felt alive.
“Today I felt really good,” said the No. 1 right wing (23:34 of ice time, highest among team forwards) after the Bruins’ 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Islanders. “To be honest, yesterday not great. Today, honestly, I think it was one of my better games. Felt good energy-wise. I was moving and feeling it.”
That is never a good sign for the opposition.
This has not been a vintage Pastrnak season. Entering the weekend, he had 13 goals on 163 shots. His 8.0 percent shooting percentage was a career low.
Pastrnak, however, has the talent to go off at any moment. Two games and four goals later, you could say he has ignited.
One night after he drained two of five shots against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 21:37 of ice time, Pastrnak did the same against the Islanders. He wiped out a 4-2 deficit in Sunday’s third period by pushing a pair past Ilya Sorokin. Because of Pastrnak’s third-period explosion, the Bruins gained one point after dropping three straight in regulation.
“Obviously 88,” interim coach Joe Sacco said, “he came up big for us tonight.”
Pastrnak initiated his first goal by being stiff on Noah Dobson on the forecheck. Because of Pastrnak’s timely arrival, Dobson had no choice but to fling the puck up the wall. Jean-Gabriel Pageau was positioned to receive the puck, but the forward sent an errant pass into the high slot that Morgan Geekie intercepted.
Once Geekie recovered the puck, Pastrnak knew where to go: his office at the left faceoff dot. Geekie found him. Sorokin had no chance to get over to stop Pastrnak’s one-timer.
“Maybe luck wasn’t on his side for a while,” Geekie said. “But I think the chances have been there for him. The numbers maybe aren’t what they have been in the past. But we see the things he does on the ice and everything he brings away from the puck as well.”
Like all finishers, Pastrnak is uncanny about getting open. He did just that on his tying goal once he received the puck from Nikita Zadorov and handed it off to Pavel Zacha. As soon as Pastrnak got rid of the puck, he broke for the far post and accelerated past Alexander Romanov. Zacha sent the puck to the net. Pastrnak handled the rest.
The sauce is heating up 🔥 🍝 pic.twitter.com/P6ZGaHyWU2
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 6, 2025
“When you start feeling confident, you’re moving your feet,” said Pastrnak. “You’re skating fast. You find open spots. The puck’s finding you. You’re feeling it. You can skate out there forever when you have days like that and you don’t feel tired. Then there’s days you feel like there’s cement in your legs.”
This would be all well and good if the Bruins were playing well defensively. They are not.
The Leafs put four five-on-five pucks past Jeremy Swayman on Saturday and added two empty-netters. The Islanders scored a shorthanded goal as well as three five-on-five strikes. Charlie McAvoy was on the ice for three of the four regulation goals, plus Bo Horvat’s overtime winner.
McAvoy was especially displeased with Anders Lee’s second goal, which gave the Islanders a 4-2 lead. After Brad Marchand fumbled a Parker Wotherspoon rim, Ryan Pulock settled the puck and hit Lee in front. McAvoy, who had been engaged with Lee on the wall, could not recover in time. McAvoy smashed his stick on the crossbar after Lee’s goal.
“They had some good looks. Especially in that second period,” said Sacco. “They had their opportunities. We didn’t defend with our feet as well tonight. I thought our structure was OK, but we didn’t defend with our feet enough. I think that’s a sign of a little bit of fatigue. Not to make an excuse, but we needed to defend more with our legs tonight and get to people quicker.”
Justin Brazeau and Cole Koepke scored support goals for Pastrnak. But the Bruins didn’t get anything from their No. 2 line of Marchand, Elias Lindholm and Charlie Coyle. They had to depend on Joonas Korpisalo to turn back two point-blankers in the second period. For the second straight night, the Bruins were not thorough enough in front of their net.
“We’re a team that defends first,” Brazeau said. “Four should be enough on any night for us to win.”
(Photo: Bob DeChiara / Imagn Images)
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