David Pastrnak is typically among the Boston Bruins' leaders in ice time among forwards. The 28-year-old right wing is one of the NHL's most talented scorers. The B's are often a dangerous team when he's on the ice.
But Pastrnak was forced to watch the final 20 minutes of his team's 2-0 win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday after being benched by head coach Jim Montgomery.
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Montgomery called Pastrnak's benching a "coach's decision" when asked about it postgame and didn't elaborate further.
There was a play late in the second period where Pastrnak had the puck on the power play and tried to skate through traffic into the attacking zone, but he lost control of the puck and the Kraken gained possession. Seattle was able to put together a few scoring chances as a result and probably was a little unlucky not to score. B's goalie Jeremy Swayman came to Pastrnak's rescue with a couple nice saves.
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Pastrnak met with reporters following Monday's practice and addressed the benching for the first time.
“Honestly, I’ve got to be better,” Pastrnak said. “I take responsibility of being better, but at the same time, I’m just moving forward. Today, I'm focusing on another game tomorrow, and yesterday was yesterday. I never look back.”
Pastrnak later added: “That was a bad turnover, so how I said, I take responsibility for it. Accountability, I guess, is a better 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, and it was a bad play. I take accountability, but already moving forward.”
Pastrnak leads the Bruins with six goals and 11 points in 12 games. He's also taken a team-high seven minor penalties and his 23 giveaways are 12 more than any other forward on the roster. Turnovers are going to happen with highly skilled players like Pastrnak who control the puck a lot, but the careless giveaways -- like the one at the end of the second period vs. the Kraken -- have to be eliminated.
Montgomery called out Pastrnak publicly after Game 6 of last season's first-round playoff series versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pastrnak responded with the series-winning goal two nights later in overtime of Game 7.
The Bruins' next game is a Tuesday night matchup against the Leafs in Toronto. A victory for the Bruins would give them three consecutive wins for the first time all season.
