By: Declan Flavin | Follow me on Twitter / X @FlavinDeclan
When you think of forward David Pastrnak, you remember the sheer amount of production he’s put on the ice for the Boston Bruins, and you probably flash back to the somewhat ambivalent era he shared with forwards Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Those three formed that damned title of the “Perfection Line,” and while the success was there for large stretches, you remember the disappointment arguably just as much, with injuries going under the radar as an unfortunate blockade to what could have been a second Cup for two-thirds of the line.
Flash forward to the current Pastrnak-led era, particularly during the November 26th game against the New York Islanders, and he now has to deal with an area of injury all too familiar to his former linemates. Although no one has officially confirmed what injury Pastrnak suffered, the strong consensus is that it is related to the groin.
Groin problems were no strangers to Bergeron and Marchand, surfacing in different seasons, including the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals and the 2023-24 season. It severely hampered their ability to find any explosion, which is arguably the finer and more undervalued detail in all of it.
What is Bergeron without his back and forth checking game, Marchand without his signature back and forth cutbacks, and Pastrnak without a full head of steam? Although fans expect the team to roll forward as is after their injured star returns to the lineup, the reality is that these types of injuries change the team’s hopes more than many other hindrances.
Especially for the new era, a less mobile Pastrnak coming back for a team that wants to skate a marathon every game, in a perfect world, is not what the coaching regime ever has in mind. Head coach Marco Sturm is depending on the surrounding players to get closer to game-to-game consistency within their forechecking roles, and something like this can only pose a potential threat to the group getting out of their element.
Yes, there is no easier counter-option than to point out that things could go positively, and you would get no disagreements, but the fact of the matter is that this star player is definitively going to play through pain that has him at less than 100% explosion. Pastrnak and the Bruins just have to find a way to utilize him in the most effective way possible to account for this, just as much as fans have to be aware of the impact that an injury like this has had before.
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