BRIGHTON, Mass. — On Monday, David Pastrnak did not say whether he agreed with his coach’s decision to bench him for Sunday’s entire third period against the Seattle Kraken. No player enjoys the humiliation of serving as a grocery stick for 20 minutes while his teammates fight for a much-needed win.
But the Boston Bruins right wing acknowledged he has more to give.
“Got to be better,” Pastrnak said following practice at Warrior Ice Arena. “Take responsibility for being better. At the same time, I’m just moving forward today, focusing for another game tomorrow. Yesterday was yesterday. I never look back. Just came in today, worked on my game today.”
The Bruins were only up 2-0 against the Seattle Kraken when coach Jim Montgomery decided to park Pastrnak for the third. They could have used Pastrnak’s offensive touch.
But the reason Montgomery gave Pastrnak a seat is because of how unpredictable No. 88 has been with the puck. Pastrnak’s undependable puck play flared up at the wrong time against the Kraken: while the Bruins had a power play late in the second period. Pastrnak’s giveaway gave Yanni Gourde three shots at getting the Kraken back in the game.
“That was a bad turnover,” Pastrnak acknowledged. “I take responsibility for it. Accountability, I guess, is the best word. I just want to move forward. I don’t want to be any distraction to our team. The guys know how I feel about them in here. It was a bad play.”
Pastrnak is a cheery person. His coaches and teammates regularly say he has no bad days at the rink.
But he is also a proud and competitive player. In all likelihood, he did not like watching an entire period when he could have been influencing his team’s outcome.
But Montgomery is in a jam. He is trying to repair an underperforming roster. His job is on the line.
Montgomery has tolerated Pastrnak’s puck fumbles to this point. But the third-year Bruins coach, who is in the final season of his contract, has never been in a situation where his Black-and-Gold job security is in play. By Sunday’s second intermission, Montgomery believed the best short-term fix for his team’s performance against the Kraken was to punish his best player.
Others noticed.
“The only thing we play for here is the crest,” said fellow alternate captain Charlie McAvoy. “It was good to hear that again. Because it really doesn’t matter, the individual accolades. It really doesn’t. The only thing that matters here is team success.”
Pastrnak (six goals, 11 points) remains the team’s leading scorer. However, the No. 1 right wing has scored just one five-on-five goal. Part of that is because of his 3.03 shooting percentage at five-on-five. Last season, according to Natural Stat Trick, Pastrnak was at 11.3 percent (27 five-on-five goals). His percentage is sure to digress.
But part of Pastrnak’s muted production is due to the ill fit he’s had so far with Elias Lindholm. Icing Pastrnak for an entire period does not help him find his way with his center.
“It definitely doesn’t help right now, this situation,” Pastrnak said of trying to find a spark with Lindholm. “It’s still early. We hope it’s going to break soon. We had some better looks. First period, sometimes we had better looks in the O-zone. We created some chances. But they didn’t go in.”
Montgomery is not getting excited about two straight wins. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Tuesday’s opponent, will be a tougher test than the Kraken and Philadelphia Flyers. A fully operational Pastrnak is required against the Leafs.
“I’m not there yet with that,” Montgomery said on whether his team has straightened out its shortcomings. “I’m just being honest. There’s too many lapses in our game right now. We’re not a 60-minute team. We just need to continue to build. We’re better. But we’re not where we need to be.”
(Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
