David Pastrnak earns appearance to 2019 NHL All-Star Game
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Boston Bruins will be represented at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game by top-line winger David Pastrnak, the league revealed today by way of their official announcement.
Here they are! Your 2018-19 #NHLAllStar Rosters! pic.twitter.com/pJIQpsUC8l
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) January 3, 2019
This is the first All-Star nod of Pastrnak’s NHL career, and leading the Bruins in scoring this season, with 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points in 40 appearances, there’s no doubt that No. 88 has willed his way into such an honor.
Pastrnak is the first Bruins player to reach the 50-point milestone within the team’s first 40 games of the season since Marc Savard accomplished such a feat in 2006-07. Pastrnak also leads the league in power-play scoring with 11 goals and 24 points, helping the Bruins’ man advantage rank fourth in the NHL. In a year defined by the B’s injuries, too, Pastrnak has also played in every B’s game to date, earning points in 26, including 14 multi-point games.
The Bruins have essentially lived or died with Pastrnak this season, too, as he has been directly involved in 51.8 percent of the team’s total offense production this season with either a goal or assist. Most recently, the Czech winger tallied a goal and an assist in the team’s 4-2 victory over Chicago in the 2019 NHL Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium on Jan. 1.
Pastrnak standing as Boston’s lone rep at the event checks out, especially when you consider Patrice Bergeron’s lengthy absence from the lineup this season despite his 1.38 point-per-game pace, and Brad Marchand’s absence makes sense considering some of the other Atlantic names that didn’t make it (like Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, and Brayden Point).
One player that may have deserved some more consideration, though, is Bruins netminder Jaroslav Halak.
Halak has played lights out hockey in the Black and Gold’s crease all season, and entered the New Year ranking first in save percentage (.928) and second in goals against average (2.28) among qualifying goaltenders. But those honors instead went to the Canadiens’ Carey Price (15-10-4 with a .904) and Detroit’s Jimmy Howard (10-9-5 with a .920).
This year’s All-Star Game will be played at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
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