Jim Montgomery confident goals will come for David Pastrnak
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Bruins notes: Montgomery is confident goals will come for Pastrnak originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON — Bruins superstar right wing David Pastrnak has not made the kind of impact in this first-round playoff series against the Florida Panthers that you’d expect from a 61-goal scorer and a likely Hart Trophy finalist.
He has scored twice — once in Game 1 (on the power play) and again in Game 3 — with zero assists after leading the B’s with 52 helpers in the regular season. Pastrnak has been held without a single point in three of the last four games.
One goal and zero assists in 72 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time through five games isn’t going to cut it. Pastrnak tallied 12.85 shots and 12.24 scoring chances per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 in the regular season, per Natural Stat Trick. He’s at 10.79 shots and 11.62 scoring chances per 60 minutes in Round 1. His shooting percentage was 14.2 in the regular season and it’s 11.1 in the playoffs so far.
“You know, the puck’s not going in for him right now. It’s just a matter of time,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after his team’s 4-3 overtime loss in Game 5 on Wednesday night. “I thought he worked really hard, I thought he won a lot of battles, I thought he was more involved, maybe than he was the first two games at home. But it’s just a matter of time, he’s just too good.”
Pastrnak played 23:47 of ice time in Game 5, which was the most of any Bruins forward. He logged 5:52 of power-play minutes. Despite an abundance of ice time, Pastrnak tallied 11 shot attempts but only four hit the net.
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The Panthers have made a strong effort to be physical with Pastrnak and hit/slash him whenever possible. How much is that having an effect on Pastrnak? It’s tough to say, but it’s obvious that the confidence and aggressiveness he showed offensively during the regular season has not shown up in the playoffs so far.
The Bruins can win…
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