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Bruins appear to chirp ‘Felger & Mazz’ after David Pastrnak’s top-shelf goal
David Pastrnak drew some criticism for his shootout attempt during Monday's loss to Colorado.
David Pastrnak has been far from a conduit of criticism this season for the Bruins.
Entering Tuesday night’s game against the Coyotes, Pastrnak was fourth in the NHL in scoring with 56 points (24 goals, 32 assists) in just 39 games. Even without two proven playmakers in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci on the roster, Pastrnak is still on pace for a career-high 118 points this year.
But after Boston came up short in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Avalanche on Monday night, Pastrnak caught some flak for his game-deciding shot attempt against Colorado goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
Pastrnak has found twine 325 times in his career thanks to an array of blistering one-timers, crafty dekes, and sharp wrist shots. But with Boston in need of a tally to push the shootout into the fourth round, Pastrnak opted for a rather pedestrian shot that thudded off Georgiev’s pads to seal the win for Colorado.
Considering that Pastrnak has already beat several goalies this season with a few gravity-defying shots, the optics of Pastrnak’s shot attempt against Colorado drew the ire of many — including 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Michael Felger on Tuesday afternoon.
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“Have you watched the Pastrnak shootout attempt? … I’d suspend him,” Felger said on “Felger & Mazz”, as captured by DJ Bean of the “What Chaos!” Podcast. “Suspended! Suspended! … After the shootout attempt, I’d love to see more Pastrnak out there — not giving a crap.”
Of course, it didn’t take very long for Pastrnak to get back on the scoresheet. And it seems like the Bruins kept a few receipts.
Pastrnak opened the scoring for Boston during its road matchup against the Coyotes on Tuesday, beating Connor Ingram with a top-shelf shot at 4:41 in the first period. It was an impressive release from Pastrnak, who now has 25 tallies on the season.
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The Bruins clearly took note of the discourse surrounding Pastrnak’s shootout attempt the night prior.
In their post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that showcased Pastrnak’s snip, the Bruins wrote: “Does everyone approve of this shot attempt?”
Of course, Pastrnak is not immune to criticism. His creativity with the puck can result in turnovers that give way to odd-man rushes or Grade-A looks that can sail past Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark.
But those misgivings are usually remedied in short order, given how often he decimates opposing defenses.
(You could also make the case that Pastrnak was trying to beat Georgiev five-hole with a sudden shot instead of his anticipated slingshot move, as noted by WEEI’s Scott McLaughlin.)
This is not the first time the Bruins have used some of Felger’s soundbites as bulletin board material. In their playoff hype video ahead of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins used Felger’s comments about the youth on Boston’s roster — such as Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy — as a source of motivation.
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