Tuukka Rask might have summed it up best when describing David Pastrnak’s performance against the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night.
“I mean, I don’t know,” Rask said. "Just wow.”
At this point, it’s not much of a surprise when a player like Pastrnak lights the lamp, given the fact he’s racked up 101 career tallies in just 259 career games.
But the manner in which the 22-year-old winger continues to torch opposing defenses — while failing to show any semblance of a peak in his overall abilities — routinely leaves his teammates speechless.
“I mean it’s crazy,” Ryan Donato said. “His shot is unbelievable. You give a guy like that any time or space or he doesn’t really need that much time or space either and the guys found him tonight and his shot was on fire tonight.”
On yet another night in which Boston’s top forward line pummeled the opposition — notching its 30th point over the span of four games — Pastrnak led the charge, tallying his second career hat trick, and second of this Bruins’ homestand, in what was an 8-2 trouncing of the Red Wings.
Along with sparking a volley of baseball caps and beanies to fall onto the TD Garden ice, Pastrnak’s three-goal showing put himself into some impressive company when it comes to the Black and Gold.
Pastrnak’s second goal was the 100th of his young career, becoming the third fastest player in Bruins’ history to reach the milestone, trailing just Barry Pederson (187 games) and Dit Clapper (247). His 101 career tallies now place him in a tie for third with Joe Thornton for the most goals for a Bruins player under the age of 23, behind Pederson (130) and Bobby Orr (113). By the way, Pastrnak turns 23 on May 25.
The winger’s consistent production also ranks him third in terms of the fewest games needed to score 100 goals for a Czech player, behind only Petr Klima (231 GP) and Jaromir Jagr (245 GP).
Some noteworthy accomplishments for sure, even if Pastrnak isn’t spending much time dwelling on it.
“I don’t really think about it,” Pastrnak said. “I just go out there and play hockey, and how I said, enjoy every moment on the ice. Trying to get better every practice and every game, and just, you know, having fun. I love the game and I’m not focusing on if I’m going to score a goal or three.”
While Cassidy has spoken at length about Pastrnak’s improvement in his 200-foot-game, it’s not like he’s let his offensive tools rust a bit following the offseason.
“Parts of his game are growing, and his shot is too,” Cassidy said. “Like last year he had a lot of great one-timer goals but this year he seems to be even more on with it, like that was a great block right before he scored, so he’s hitting it well. I just like the fact that he’s trying to keep everyone involved in those plays and trying to be a good team player and good 200-foot player. Again, shows that he’s trying to grow his game and that’s what all the good players do.”
Pastrnak's bread and butter — his speed, shot and skill with the puck on his stick — is common knowledge for any scouting report out there on the winger. But there’s a certain facet of Pastrnak’s game that is “sneaky”, according to Rask.
Look no further than his first goal of the night, as Pastrnak took advantage of a line change and casually went end to end in a matter of seconds, striding into the Red Wings’ zone before beating Jonathan Bernier with a quick wrister from the left circle.
“He just gets the puck and winds up and you don’t think too much of it, but then once he picks up speed at the red line and then the defenseman gets stuck standing still just a little bit then he’s in trouble, and the next thing you know...,” Rask said. “He’s not even in a danger area really from a goaltender standpoint, but then quick backhand, forehand, then puts it top shelf. So, it’s a tough shot to stop."
“Well nobody really checked me,” Pastrnak said of his first goal. “I think they were in the middle of a line change, you know, and nobody really come at me, you know, so I just kept going forward and the D gave me some space and gave me the space to shoot the puck, so I tried and it went in.”
Take another look at @pastrnak96's second career hat trick, courtesy of @Enterprise. pic.twitter.com/DypKf4b4ny
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 13, 2018