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Bruins players react to David Pastrnak’s third-period benching
"Coach’s decision, third period. That’s all I’m going to comment on it.”
The Bruins took another step forward on Sunday at TD Garden — posting their second-straight shutout as part of a 2-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken.
It was another encouraging return to form for a seemingly rudderless Bruins roster, with several players rebounding after back-to-back losses to the Flyers and Hurricanes last week.
Boston’s latest win saw several players seemingly in Jim Montgomery’s doghouse bounce back.
Charlie Coyle got off the schneid with a power-play goal, Trent Frederic answered for a hit against Matt Poitras by dropping the gloves against Adam Larsson, and Elias Lindholm recorded his second assist in as many games after a seven-game scoring drought.
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But one player who did not escape the wrath of Boston’s bench boss was David Pastrnak, with the Bruins’ top player stapled to the bench for the entirety of the third period.
“Coach’s decision, third period,” Montgomery said of Pastrnak, who logged his final shift of the game at 17:34 in the third period. “That’s all I’m going to comment on it.”
It’s currently unclear as to what exactly led to Pastrnak’s benching, although the skilled winger was knocked for a brutal turnover later in the second period while on the power play. While the Kraken didn’t make Pastrnak pay with a shorthanded tally, it was a risky sequence from Boston’s winger that could have proven catastrophic.
After Boston’s 2-0 win over the Kraken, several of Pastrnak’s teammates were asked about his benching in crunch time.
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“I mean do we want our best players playing? Yeah,” Charlie Coyle said. “I don’t know the full extent of that. I don’t know what was going on, and sometimes you’re in tune to the game, you’re just kind of ready to see who you’re going with next and there’s really no time to kind of think.
“Whatever the coach says and whatever his decisions are, you’ve just got to play, there’s a hockey game to be played. But, Pasta, he wasn’t silent. He was bringing energy. He was talking. He was into it. That’s a sign of a good teammate right there. And that’s why he wears a letter. That’s why he’s one of our captains, our leaders. It’s a lot to be said for that.”
Beyond his energy on the bench, Pastrnak was far from just a passenger for most of Sunday’s win. Even with just 14:21 of ice time, Pastrnak led Boston with seven shots on goal while also drawing a penalty and blocking a shot.
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But with the margins razor thin for Boston at this stage of the season when it comes to its uneven offensive output, costly turnovers like Pastrnak’s mishap in the second period can’t be tolerated.
“We all play on the same team. There’s no special treatment for anyone, and I think that’s how it should be,” Coyle added. “I think we all take responsibility. Ask any one of us who have been in that position; we’ve gotten an earful or whatever; it’s probably for good reason.
“We’re all competitive. We all want to play. We’re all going to be held responsible in our own way, and Monty holds us accountable, and that’s only going to make us better as a team.”
Charlie McAvoy referenced Brad Marchand’s response to Montgomery’s outburst against him on the bench last month as both an example of the accountability Boston’s head coach demands — and a template for how Boston’s players should respond to challenges from the coaching staff.
“One of the things that we know here and can’t get lost here is that the only thing we play for here is the crest,” McAvoy noted, per MassLive’s Matt Vautour. “It really doesn’t matter, the individual accolades. … Brad’s big on that. He has sort of an old-school mentality about accountability and players holding each other accountable.
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“When Monty was yelling at him on the bench, he’s fine with that and maybe that’s something that people in today’s day and age couldn’t really believe,” McAvoy added. “He’s big on players holding each other accountable, coaches holding players accountable. That’s the only way to kind of breed this winning culture and how we’re going to have success. So that was nice to see.”
Pastrnak will have a chance to answer Montgomery’s challenge on Tuesday when Boston heads to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs.
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