By: Chad Jones | Follow me on Twitter/X @ShutUpChadJones
Not much has gone right for the Boston Bruins this season. Boston’s record is 31-38-9, and they have officially been eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-2016 campaign. But despite this tumultuous year, David Pastrnak has been nothing short of extraordinary.
On Saturday night at TD Garden against the Carolina Hurricanes, Pastrnak reached two impressive milestones. He corralled his 90th point of the year by whipping a backhand feed right in the neutral zone to Morgan Geekie. He then sniped home his 28th goal of the season. Fitting Geekie would factor in on Pastrnak’s 90th point, as the forward’s shoot-first mentality and quick wrister have complemented Pastrnak’s elite play-making skillset. He then picked up another assist in the first period for good measure.
But the Czech winger was about to remind the Boston crowd he’s just as gifted at lighting the lamp as he is at collecting apples. Pastrnak ripped home a tally from a bad angle in the second period.
He then used his ridiculous hand-eye coordination in the final frame to bat the puck out of midair and into the back of the net. To cap off the performance, he undressed Frederik Andersen with a brilliant stick-handling display and slid the puck home to collect his 19th career hat trick and 40th goal of the year.
The next night against the Buffalo Sabres, he added three more helpers and broke a Bruins record. Pastrnak had scored or assisted on 11 straight Boston goals, passing Bruins Legends’ Ray Bourque and Phil Esposito, who had both had stretches where they factored in on nine consecutive Bruins scores.
Coming into the weekend, Pastrnak had put up 89 points in 76 games. But his eight-point explosion over the past two contests puts him at striking distance for the coveted 100-point plateau.
The mere fact that Pastrnak is flirting with hitting the century mark in points this season is incredible. Two key factors stand out this year in particular.
Boston’s offense has struggled all year to find the back of the net, as the Bruins average 2.63 goals a game, 29th in the NHL. Opposing teams have been able to key in on and game plan almost exclusively for Pastrnak, especially since the trade deadline. Despite all the attention he draws, he continues to find seems and open ice to generate offense for the Bruins.
Also noteworthy is how effective Pastrnak has been skating at even-strength. He has surpassed 100 points in his last two seasons with big-time power play production. He put up double-digit goals on the man advantage in both seasons and had at least 35 power play points in both campaigns.
Pastrnak has nine goals on the man advantage this season and has corralled 23 points with on the power play. He has been an absolute force skating five-on-five. His 31 even-strength goals tie him with Brandon Hagel for fourth in the league.
With all that has happened with the Bruins organization this season, Pastrnak has not let any of those factors negatively impact his game. He has been a consummate professional. He should get votes for the Hart Trophy, and the Bruins organization should seriously consider giving him the “C” on his chest next year.
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