Kalman: Better Decisions Earn Pastrnak Chance To Score Twice In Bruins' Win Over Islanders
BOSTON (CBS) -- Where would David Pastrnak's development be if he hadn't been bounced around the globe the past two seasons and missed 24 games this season because of injury?
That's a question that's tough to answer except to say that right now Pastrnak is right where the Bruins need him to be because he was their hero Saturday at TD Garden.
Pastrnak scored his first of two goals with 8.9 seconds remaining in the second period to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. His second goal sealed a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders with 2:34 remaining, as Boston improved to 5-0-2 in its past seven games before heading off on the traded three-game California road trip.
The 19-year-old Pastrnak is buying back ice time from coach Claude Julien with smarter play away from the puck and in dangerous areas of the ice. The second-year forward has four goals in the four past games and 11 on the season to surpass his rookie-year total.
"I'm just trying to focus on small details, play good in the D [zone] and make smart decisions," said Pastrnak, who scored his goals off primary assists from linemates David Krejci and Loui Eriksson. "I play with two great guys, really high skill, so I'm just focusing to fit in on the line. And twice they found me and it was easy for me to just put the puck in the net."
It's been a weird development curve for Pastrnak since the Bruins picked him 25th in the 2014 draft. He started last season with Providence in the AHL, then went to the World Junior Championship, then came back to North America and emerged as one of Boston's best forwards. He finished with 10 goals and 27 points in 46 games.
This season he missed 21 games after his foot was broken by teammate Joe Morrow's shot, and then missed three more games with an upper-body shortly after returning. Mixed into this season was a conditioning stint with Providence and another trip to the World Junior Championship.
Pastrnak's maturity has taken some twists and turns – some unpreventable, others inflicted by the organization – but slowly he seems to be catching on. Even within the win against the Islanders, he needed to grow up.
Throughout the first period, Pastrnak made wrong decisions with the puck. A couple times he had a chance to get the puck deep at the end of the shift and instead tried to make plays that turned into giveaways and momentum for the Islanders. They were the type of wrong decisions that often caused Julien in recent weeks to remove Pastrnak from the equation when the Bruins were protecting small leads late in games.
"That's the toughest decision. ... Knowing when to make a play or get it deep," Pastrnak said. "Sometimes I don't make the best plays but I'm learning. And I'll get better."
Over the final 40 minutes, Pastrnak wised up. He took better care of the puck and Julien rewarded him. That allowed the Bruins to benefit from Pastrnak's overwhelming offensive skill when they needed it. Since he came in the League, Pastrnak is 10th in points per 60 minutes – comparable to Detroit rookie Dylan Larkin and just behind such luminaries as Sidney Crosby and Tyler Seguin.
Pastrnak said that although he's only played 85 games (slightly more than one season's worth) he feels like a second-year player because of the improvements he's made and the things he's learned. One year ago, he might not have recovered after the shaky first period.
Julien is learning how to best utilize Pastrnak to benefit the player and the team. There's no such thing as a doghouse, just lessons taught through the distribution of ice time.
"Well he is coming along in the way that you guys are seeing him," Julien said. "We all see and people who know the game will also see where there are areas he has to improve and he's got to get stronger on the puck and not turn them over as much as he does. And it's going to happen in the game but it's about playing the clock as well, looking where you are. If you are up by one goal in your last few minutes, can't afford big turnovers. It's about making the right decision. So it's about playing the game the proper way at the right time and to me he's learning that part of it and tonight I thought he was better than he had been some of these other nights there where I had to take some of his ice time away."
Pastrnak admitted to being frustrated with being injured earlier in the season but he added that he's 100 percent now. If he can get his rate of making successful decisions with the puck near that percentage, there will be more opportunities for his late-game offensive heroics.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
