Tomas Nosek was rewarded on stat sheet Sunday, but Bruins’ 4C has already proven value beyond box score

As the Garden crowd erupted in applause, Tomas Nosek simply extended his arms and looked to the sky.

Whether it be a cherished family member or friend — or perhaps just the hockey gods — the 30-year-old forward was ready to pay tribute to whatever divine intervention finally graced his stick in the waning minutes of Boston’s win over the Canucks.

Nosek wasn’t signed by the Bruins in the summer of 2021 to light the lamp with regularity. After all, the Czech product’s previous career high for tallies in a season was eight — accomplished three seasons in a row with the Vegas Golden Knights (2018-21). 

No, Nosek’s true value for his new team lies more in his versatility, PK prowess and the various unglamorous tasks that usually fall on the shoulders of a team’s fourth-line stalwarts.

But still, given that Nosek’s previous tally came all the way back on Jan. 2, 2022 — a span of 65 games — Sunday’s empty-net strike against the Canucks allowed Boston’s 4C to finally exhale for the first time in a long time. 

“You're a hockey player, a forward. I know it's not my main job to score goals, but you want to score some goals at least once in a while,” Nosek said following Boston’s 5-2 win. “And yeah, it was sometimes frustrating. But I've always said, I just tried to keep my head in the game and focus on my game, and now it's over. I'm glad it's over.”

Nosek’s goal was the final stamp in Boston’s 11th win in its last 12 contests and the B’s ninth straight victory at TD Garden  — a new franchise record to open a season for the Original Six team. It also penciled in Nosek as the 20th different goal scorer for this club over its first 16 games — a testament to the depth that the B’s has benefited from en route to their scorching start to a new campaign. 

Given his extended scoring drought, it came as little surprise that Nosek was mobbed by his teammates on the Bruins bench as the seconds continued to tick off the clock. But that admiration was not just rooted in the veteran getting back in the goal-scoring column. Rather, it was a fitting tribute to a key cog on this B’s lineup who — despite his unenviable duties, night in and night out — has continued to carry out his role without question. 

"It's not easy when you're you're playing those hard minutes, you're playing those tough matchups, tough situations that are all about details and things that don't appear on the score sheet, but it goes a long way for our team,” Patrice Bergeron said of Nosek. “And to get rewarded like that is — kudos to him. I think everyone, you could see on the bench, everyone was super happy for him. It's well deserved.”

Even if Nosek’s offensive ceiling has drawn the ire of some over the last few months — especially during preseason action when it looked as though younger pivots were poised to pry him out of that 4C spot — Nosek has been another in a long list of unheralded contributors further down on the depth chart for Boston this season.

His details on the penalty kill have already made him a trusted resource for Jim Montgomery in shorthanded situations — recording the second-most PK TOI per game among B’s forwards (3:11) for a team that currently ranks first in the NHL in PK prowess (91.7%).

But even at 5v5 play, Nosek has been a defensive anchor on a fourth line that has routinely tiled ice back in Boston’s favor. Much like Bruce Cassidy, Montgomery has handed Nosek plenty of daunting on-ice assignments so far in 2022-23, with just 13.3 percent of Nosek’s on-ice starts at 5v5 play coming in the offensive zone.

Given that most of his on-ice starts have not started in the opposing end of the ice — coupled with regular assignments against top-six opponents — it wouldn’t really be much of a surprise if Nosek’s numbers when it comes to goal differential and shot share weren’t exactly sterling. 

But despite that dearth of O-zone starts, the Bruins have actually outscored teams, 7-4, in Nosek’s 161:19 of 5v5 ice time this season. And among a pool of 266 NHL forwards who have logged at least 150 minutes of 5v5 ice time this season, Nosek ranks 33rd with a goals-against per 60-minute rate of 1.49.

“He's been tremendous for us all year long,” Montgomery said of Nosek. “There's a reason why our penalty kill is number one in the league. He's a big part of it — him and Charlie Coyle up front to start every penalty kill.  Really, you can tell, the bench was really excited for him. I don't know if you watched our bench, but everybody was rubbing his head, yelling his name when he scored that goal. Because he sacrifices a lot for the team.”

Scoring goals isn’t necessarily at the top of Nosek’s talents out on the ice, but neither is scrapping. 

While A.J. Greer did most of the damage on Sunday with his bout with Vasily Podkolzin, Nosek also recorded a fight — the first of his eight-year career — when he jumped Vancouver skater Kyle Burroughs without hesitation after Burroughs delivered an open-ice hit on David Pastrnak in the first period. 

Even though Vancouver eventually scored on the following power play while Nosek was in the box, he eventually earned a chorus of stick taps from the B’s bench once he was finally released from the sin bin — a token of appreciation for his efforts at standing up for his teammate. 

"He's my friend. He's my teammate. He's our star,” Nosek said of standing up for Pastrnak. “It's what makes us a good team, I think. To step up and play for each other. Doesn't matter who it is.  I was there. So I did the job.”

On a Bruins roster anchored by uber-skilled talent up front, fleet-footed stalwarts on the back end and some bruisers sprinkled across the lineup, Nosek often tends to fly under the radar. He’s not going to be at the forefront of many highlight reels this season for Boston. 

But just because he doesn’t dangle past a wall of skaters, that doesn’t mean that Nosek’s quiet contributions hold little value to a Bruins club that is continuing to benefit from winning plays up and down the roster. 

“He's a microcosm of what our team is — like, we play for each other really well,” Montgomery said of Nosek. “And it's very evident — like him jumping in right away. I mean, Nosek is not a guy who fights. But these guys, they don't want to see anyone take advantage of their teammates. And that's a great quality to have as a team and how many blocked shots we've had, different guys excelling in their roles? It's fun to watch.”