On a night in which Patrice Bergeron scored his third hat trick of the calendar year and Brad Marchand notched his seventh helper in six periods, Bruce Cassidy arguably had the highest praise for the third man on the B’s top line following Monday’s 6-3 win over the Senators.
It’s not like David Pastrnak was slouching at TD Garden — tallying a pair of goals in the final stanza and four points overall, joining Bergeron as the only two Bruins skaters to post four or more points in a single home opener.
But rather than focus on Pastrnak’s established gifts — an impressive set of wheels, a bullet of a shot or a knack for dangling an opponent player out of his skates — Cassidy praised the 22-year-old forward’s commitment to rounding out his full game.
“Bergy’s going to lead. He’s been around this league a long time. Marchy’s growing into that. The guy that’s become more of a leader is Pasta, in his all-around game,” Cassidy said. “He’s very responsible. … Getting scored on matters to him more, and I think as you get in the league as a young guy – especially wingers – they’re thinking about scoring a lot, and that’s the mentality we need to bring.”
The production has been there early on for Pastrnak, who ranks second on the team in goals (three) and third in points (five) through three games. But the plays that stand out for Pastrnak so far through the first week might not be the tap-ins on the rush or dekes in the neutral zone.
Both Bergeron and Cassidy mentioned Pastrnak’s backchecking efforts in Thursday’s win over the Sabres, including one play in which the young forward dived in the slot to break out a feed from Jack Eichel that would have likely led to a prime scoring chance.
Pastrnak was at it again Monday, reaching into a facet of his game that he has not usually relied on during his four years in the NHL.
A speedy sniper that usually racks up tallies in his scorebook off of head-on drives to the crease or one-time blasts near the slot, Pastrnak took the onus upon himself to generate the B’s first scoring chance against the Sens by bringing the puck to the dirty area.
Corralling the biscuit near the end boards, Pastrnak pulled a hard right and brought the puck up to the crease against Sens goalie Mike Condon.
As expected, Pastrnak was pummeled by Ottawa defenseman Cody Ceci as he brought the puck to the doorstep — but the scrum allowed Bergeron to knock home the rebound just 30 seconds into the game, the third-fastest goal ever for the B’s in a home opener. (The top honor? Brad Boyes in 2006 - 18 seconds).
Knocking him over doesn't work.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/v1xz40fxSZ
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 8, 2018