Brunet Reflects on First NHL Point, ‘I Am Going to Remember that Night Forever’

BOSTON –– Frederic Brunet settled the puck at the top of the zone and carried it down the middle before dishing it over to David Pastrnak above the right circle.

Pastrnak ripped it home for the Boston Bruins’ first power-play goal of the season, and the 2-0 lead in the first period of Thursday’s eventual 6-1 win over the Utah Mammoth at TD Garden.

It also marked Brunet’s first NHL point. The 23-year-old defenseman skated in his second game of the year with the B’s after making the main club out of training camp; Brunet has spent the last three seasons in Providence.

“It was awesome. Such a great night. I think having my first assist on one of Dave’s goals – I am going to remember that night forever. It was great; all the boys came to congratulate me. I am going to remember it for a long time,” Brunet said. “He’s the captain for a reason. He’s been always by my side, helping me all the way along. I think Dave’s a great example and trying to follow him as much as I can.”  

Brunet was given first-unit responsibilities on the man advantage this week, alongside Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha.​

“I’m trying to give those guys as much room as I can, if I can attract a guy in as much as possible – give Dave some more room, Geeks some one-timers,” Brunet said. “I mean, anything I can do up top to get them more time to make some plays. Obviously sometimes it is going to be up to me to make a play, and I think I’m ready for that. What I really want to do is facilitate and make their life easier out there.”

Charlie McAvoy remains out of the lineup due to his suspension, so he and Brunet rotated getting reps at the quarterback position during Wednesday’s practice. Brunet took mental notes while watching McAvoy and brought them with him into Thursday’s matchup.

“I think I’ve been put through a couple situations in Providence where it was kind of the same thing – there were a couple of injuries, so you have to step up on the first power play,” Brunet said. “For me, just my mindset was I am going to go out there and make some plays; I can’t put too much pressure on myself. Yesterday, I knew I wasn’t the focal point of the power play. I was there to facilitate everything, and I think I did a pretty good job of that.”

The power play ended up going 3-for-4 against the Mammoth. Brunet finished the night with one point, two shots, four blocks and two hits through 18:42 of ice time while skating on the third pair with Mason Lohrei.

“He played great,” head coach Marco Sturm said of Brunet. “That one power-play assist he had, that nice play he made; after that he kind of took off. Looking back at the game again today, we all looked at it; he was great. Hopefully, as a young kid, he can keep it up, the level he is playing right now, because he is doing pretty good.”

​Brunet got to enjoy the game more, too. The nerves before his first game of the season on Monday somewhat blurred the excitement of the moment. Thursday he settled, found his feet, got his touches and simply played his game.

“Yesterday was really different from the first one. The first one was really stressful for me. It’s been a while since I last played my last NHL game, and it’s such a different atmosphere and energy than a real NHL game than preseason,” Brunet said. “So I think just going out there was a little bit nerve-racking. But I think I did a pretty good job controlling myself yesterday and just having a mindset that I belong here and I am ready to go.”

It was the first time Brunet saw TD Garden rocking like he had heard all about, too.

​“It was awesome. The last two games I played, we lost. Broke the streak,” he said. “It felt good to see all the fans. It’s incredible playing here; you see all the passionate fans in the stands, and it felt great to give them a win like that after what we did two days ago.”​

After the game, Brunet went right to the family room to see his mom, Brigitte, who had made the trip from Quebec to watch her son play. She got a pretty good souvenir.

“I gave her the puck for my first assist; she is going to bring it back home,” Brunet said. “She was sitting with Fraser’s grandparents all game. I was talking to Fraser’s grandparents, and they were like, ‘Oh yeah, she was so happy.’ I can only imagine what she was saying in the stands – what she was screaming, probably.”