David Pastrnak tallies overtime winner as Bruins drop Oilers, 2-1
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Feb 19, 2020; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak (88) scores the overtime winning goal on Edmonton Oilers goaltender Mike Smith (41) at Rogers Place. (Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
In under four minutes of game-time, David Pastrnak flipped Wednesday’s head-to-head between the Bruins and Oilers on its head, and gave the Black and Gold their 10th win in their last 11 games with a 2-1 overtime final.
On the ice for an offensive-zone faceoff with just over two and a half minutes remaining in the third period of a 1-1 game, Pastrnak was almost immediately whistled for tripping the Oilers’ William Lagesson off the draw. It was an obvious a penalty as you’ll see called in 2020, and sent the Bruins to the kill for a sixth time, and with the game obviously hanging in the balance.
But as Pastrnak watched helplessly from the box, the Bruins came through with their biggest kill of the evening, while Pastrnak turned his first overtime shift into some breakaway magic that beat a poke-checking Mike Smith for the dagger.
No better way to end the night 🍝🚨@pastrnak96 | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/I1cmobdHtN
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 20, 2020
The goal was perfectly Pasta, and left the Oilers’ Smith completely clueless, as his attempted poke check left him gripping at his stick and essentially opening up the entire left side (from Pastrnak’s view anyway) of his net. It only helped Pastrnak to sell the move before going backhand through Smith’s pads. That subtle panic from Smith was really all No. 88 needed for his 43rd goal of the season, which moved him within one of matching Glen Murray’s 44-goal mark in 2002-03.
But you can’t ignore the quality of the helpers from David Krejci and Torey Krug on the play. Krejci, who absolutely misses playing with Pastrnak on a full-time basis and shows it with each on-ice showing together, fed Pastrnak with a perfectly timed dish that allowed Pastrnak to leave a challenging Darnell Nurse in the dust. And it was Krug, who was alone on a two-on-one just moments prior, that corralled the loose puck next to Tuukka Rask’s crease after Pastrnak’s poke erased a chance.
B’s center Patrice Bergeron scored Boston’s goal in regulation in this victory, beating Mike Smith at the 8:28 marker of the first period for his 27th goal of the season. While the goal was just another highlight reel strike for the best line in hockey, a sneaky-beautiful sequence came with Marchand’s tag-up and subsequent dime to No. 37. The tally also extended Bergeron’s goal streak to four games, and gave the top-line pivot six goals and 10 points over his last 10 games played.
But the Oilers responded in the third period on a Sam Gagner marker through Rask at the 3:42 mark of the period.
Gagner’s game-tying goal was the only blemish on an otherwise fantastic night for the Boston penalty kill once again, which finished with a 5-for-6 mark down a man. With the shorthanded performance, the Bruins improved to 36-for-41 on the kill since returning from their bye week, giving the league’s fifth-best penalty kill percentage over that stretch (87.8 percent).
Rask, meanwhile, kept his hot run going with a 28-for-29 showing in the Boston crease. That effort improved Rask to 10-1-1 with a .949 save percentage and 1.58 goals against average in 13 appearances since Dec. 23.
The B’s will continue their swing through Canada with a Friday night head-to-head with the Flames.