NHL Notebook: David Pastrnak breaks down his 200-foot rush vs. Canucks

It’s becoming a regular occurrence for David Pastrnak to find himself on the highlight reel. When he has the puck, and there’s either open ice or a one-on-one situation, fans come out of their seats to see what the dynamic forward will attempt to accomplish with the puck. It usually ends with the red light flashing.

That was the case again on Thursday when he scored an entertaining power-play goal at 9:03 of the first period to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead over the Vancouver Canucks. Players, teammates and fans alike have been talking about Pastrnak’s goal ever since. So, BostonSportsJournal.com decided to conduct a video session with the highly creative forward and he dissected the play just like he did Vancouver’s penalty kill.

After Friday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, Pastrnak sat in the corner of the locker room with us and watched his goal over and over. His toothless smile was priceless.



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BSJ: Describe that 200-foot rush, David.

Pastrnak: You can see I picked up the puck behind the net, and when I got to the first forechecker (Canucks’ Markus Granlund), he kind of turned back to me, so I went to the other side. Then I saw open ice and it ended up being one-on-one, which is my favorite. When I’m feeling the game, I like to challenge one-on-one and it was one of those opportunities.

BSJ: Once it was one-on-one, what was your plan against Canucks defenseman Michael Del Zotto?

Pastrnak: You can see he turned back to me, so I kept skating and it’s one-on-one here and I cut to the middle. The shot wasn’t really that good but it went in. Sometimes those shots are hard for the goalies than a harder shot.

BSJ: Let’s watch it again. What’s it like to pick up the puck behind the net and realize you have the entire sheet to play with?

Pastrnak: Especially on that power play. I saw so much open ice and it was awesome. When it’s 4-on-4 or in the overtime, those are the opportunities to use my top plays and I get excited on the ice.

BSJ: You slowed down in the neutral zone, why did you make that decision?

Pastrnak: You can see, as soon as he turned his feet.

BSJ: You entered the zone at full speed, so how do you beat a defender one-on-one like that?

Pastrnak: I pulled the puck to the side so the defenseman has to respect the shot. As soon as he turns his feet, I tried to go to the middle. You can’t cut to the middle until the defenseman turns his feet towards the puck, so here I go wide for the shot. He turns his feet so I cut to the middle. If he hadn’t turned his feet, I would have kept skating on the boards and set up for the power play.

BSJ: When did you decide to put the shot where you did?

Pastrnak: Actually, I wanted to go high. I didn’t want to go between his hands, I wanted to go high blocker but the puck was rolling. It was on the blocker side but it didn’t get high enough. I mean, it got high enough because it went in the net (laughs) but not as I expected. It was good.

BSJ: You’re the type of player that enjoys using his creativity. Do you watch other players and highlights from around the league?

Pastrnak: Pretty much since I was 15, I don’t really watch games, to be honest, but every morning I watch all the highlights from the game to see how the goals are being scored, and they always happen by mistakes from the defensive side, but (goal scorers) use the creativity and I’m trying to put that in my game and when I get the chance to use my moves one-on-one, I’m the type of player that will try to use my creativity. It’s not going to work every time, but I like to challenge one-on-one and when I have enough speed I can beat the defensemen.

BSJ: Connor McDavid scored a pretty sick goal Thursday too. I’m sure you saw it, what did you think of his creativity?

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Pastrnak: Yeah, I saw it. Incredible. It was insane. The more impressive thing was he didn’t even celey (celebrate), like he does that every day. It was unbelievable. It must be nice to play with him.

Pastrnak’s move was so incredible, we had to ask defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who was on the ice for the power play and Bruce Cassidy for their analysis of the goal.

BSJ: Charlie, you witnessed the rush first-hand, how would you describe it?

McAvoy: Oh, man. I was coming behind him and I wasn’t sure if he wanted to drop it. I saw him take off and he went inside/outside on that guy and he was moving really quick. I didn’t know what he was going to do next. He’s that type of player, he has that much skill and he keeps guys on the edge of their seat with some of the stuff that he’ll try, but it was an incredible effort by him – a beautiful play by him.

BSJ: Coach, what was it like to watch that play from the bench?

Cassidy: Torey (Krug) scored one of those in here last year on the power play against Ottawa when he went through the whole team, so it was another one of those,” Cassidy said. “We had to look at it in the room after the second period. It was almost the first move he made on the forward where he kind of turned him inside out, but that’s David. He’s high-end talent.

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Boston University and coach David Quinn have done an amazing job developing players and helping them prepare for the NHL. On Saturday, two of the most recent budding superstars faced off when McAvoy and the Sabres’ Jack Eichel played against each other at TD Garden. The Sabres finished with a 5-4 overtime win and both McAvoy and Eichel finished on the score sheet.

Former Terriers litter NHL rosters, including Clayton Keller, Charlie Coyle, Nick Bonino, Colin Wilson, Alex Chiasson, Kevin Shattenkirk, Eric Gryba, McAvoy, Eichel, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (P-Bruins) and Matt Grzelcyk (P-Bruins). It’s an impressive list and one that alums are proud of.

“It makes me very happy,” McAvoy said. “One of my most prideful things is to be able to call myself a Terrier and being able to say I went there and shared the same colors as so many great players, both the new guys like Jack and Clayton, and then the older guys like Nick Bonino or Kevin Shattenkirk. You have that one thing in common and it’s very special and I take a lot of pride in that and it’s great to see guys have success who wore those colors. It’s a testament to the school itself for the development of players. It’s one thing to get them to go there, which is something they’re really good at, but it’s another thing to use your time there personally to get better, but to also have the resources around you – the coaches and staff – to put you in a position to make a difference at the NHL level. It’s pretty special.”

Quinn also played for BU and it also helps that former Terrier Mike Sullivan has coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.

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During the offseason, the NHL decided to tweak a few rules to protect players, especially the game’s elite performers, and it’s been a work in progress for everyone involved. When it comes to the newly enforced slashing penalty, it seems like it’s still going to take some time for players to adjust. Basically, any type of slash to an opponents hands or stick will be called a penalty. Cassidy has instructed his players how to avoid such penalties and the team is doing a better job in that category.

“Yes,” Cassidy concurred. “Check with your feet. Sean (Kuraly) is going through that (because) he’s a dog-and-bone player, so this rule will work against him. Marchy, periodically, is going to get stung with it. There’s a protocol to call it. The referees, I get myself in trouble sometimes, they single out the younger guys at first so they can stick to their standard and not get an earful from veteran players, so we’re monitoring that too and telling them to be extra cautious. At the end of the day, a slash is a slash. We’ve got to be careful but there are a lot of teams going through it.”

Players throughout the league are adjusting to the new rule and it’ll be interesting to see if the officials continue to enforce it on a consistent basis for the entire season.

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In this edition of Drill of the Week, we focus on edge work and pivoting. It's awesome to see NHL players working on the same skills that we teach at the youth level. These drills are a good warmup to begin a practice and it only takes a few minutes. If you want to get creative, you can add a puck to the mix. The videos are self-explanatory.