Marchand’s Overtime Winner Lifts Bruins in Toronto

TORONTO – Kevin Shattenkirk had always viewed David Pastrnak as a goal scorer.

But upon his arrival in Boston this season, the veteran blue liner quickly realized how gifted the winger was in his playmaking, particularly his ability to feed his teammates.

“I probably just assumed that he was just a pure goal scorer,” said Shattenkirk. “He’s tremendous at creating off the rush, off of entries, getting the puck down the boards and pulling up and making those little touch plays and those little seam passes.

“For me, not playing against him as much [while in Anaheim] – the way that he sees the ice, he sees plays happening three steps ahead. That’s a special talent.”

That special talent was on full display Saturday night, including in the waning seconds of overtime when Pastrnak read the situation perfectly and did all he could to get the puck toward the Toronto goal.

After being denied on a breakaway chance as time ticked down, Pastrnak quickly recovered the puck in the corner, and with Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll well out of the crease, fired it back to the net front.

The puck deflected off Woll’s stick to Brad Marchand, who caught the puck in mid-air, instantly threw it down to the ice and whacked it home with seven seconds left in the extra session to secure Boston’s frenetic 4-3 overtime victory at Scotiabank Arena.

“Marchy created an amazing turnover [to start the sequence in the neutral zone],” said Pastrnak. “I had a quick look if he was coming. It looked like he didn’t want to go. I tried a breakaway and didn’t get it in. I saw him stop at the net, so I just tried to get it to him as quick as possible.

“Great handle by him. So happy for him. A big goal for him…I knew the goalie was coming back so I kind of shot it at Marchy and hoped he’s gonna handle it which he did.

“It’s one of our rivals, Original Six, Saturday night. Nothing better than that. That’s why we play. Always fun to win especially here.”

Pastrnak also picked up a nifty assist on Boston’s second goal when he carried the puck up the boards and then turned back to thread a feed through the slot to Shattenkirk, who was charging to the net front. Shattenkirk finished it off with a silky backhander to put the B’s ahead 2-0 at 7:31 of the second period. The winger also opened the scoring with a snipe over the shoulder of Woll for his 14th goal of the season at 10:44 of the first.

“I loved 88 tonight,” said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery. “You’re trying to balance how much you play him with getting other people on the ice as well. That’s the tough part.”

Montgomery also praised Pastrnak’s leadership, noting that the winger has become much more vocal following the departures of leaders like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and Nick Foligno last offseason.

“On the bench, he’s much more talkative,” said Montgomery. “He’s much more positive on the bench. Last year he didn’t concern himself with having to do that with so many other great leaders. He’s grown like that and he’s also grown in his play making.”

Pastrnak added that he’s “had great teachers throughout” his career when it comes to leadership in the dressing room and on the bench.

“Those big leaders are not here now so I feel like sometimes it’s good for me to speak up and also learn that way,” he said.

Back on Track

After a rough stretch that included three straight losses and four in five games, the Bruins have now won two consecutive contests with Saturday’s win in Toronto being “the best game we’ve played in a while, maybe two weeks,” according to Montgomery.

“I think sometimes you need to face some hard times to realize that it’s not always gonna come easy,” said Montgomery. “[I liked] how hard we were to play against, the time and space, protecting the middle of the ice.”

Despite surrendering a 2-0 advantage and a 3-2 lead with another last-second goal against with the opponent’s net empty (Auston Matthews tied things with 6 seconds remaining in regulation), the Bruins were pleased with their overall effort.

“Today was a good game. It’s a hard team we beat today,” said Pastrnak. “A lot of talent and they’ve been playing well. They score a lot of goals. To be 2-1 up after second, it was really good. Unfortunately, they got the late one. But we got it done. It’s quick turnaround so we have to keep going [Sunday against Columbus].”

Shattenkirk added that last week’s struggles are all part of the learning curve that teams go through during the course of the season.

“We played a lot of games in that week, too, leading up to those three losses,” said Shattenkirk. “We’re a young team and we’re going through the grind of the season. We’re starting to get into it now. That was part of it.

“When that happens, you stop playing your system and staying as detailed as possible. I think we haven’t had a chance to really practice and get back to the things that we were doing well. We got home, had the chance to reset and we’ve been playing much better since.”

Frederic Finds Twine

Trent Frederic gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead with 6:50 remaining in the third period when he buried his sixth of the season from out front off feeds from Derek Forbort and Morgan Geekie. The tally came against Woll, a fellow St. Louis native who grew up playing knee hockey in the basement of the Frederic family home – as did several other future NHLers like the Tkachuk brothers.

“Yeah, he’s been down there [in the basement],” Frederic said with a chuckle. “We started playing together in kindergarten and then we went all the way to Ann Arbor at the program together and then we kind of split up in college. Played against him in high school and college and now here.”

It was Frederic’s First Communion, he recalled, that actually led Woll to take over between the pipes on their youth hockey team.

“I was a goalie…it was a summer team,” said Frederic. “I had First Communion and that’s when he became goalie. I couldn’t go for the weekend. My parents didn’t let me go on the weekend trip and that’s when he became goalie.”

Shattenkirk on the Board

Shattenkirk was pleased to break through with his first goal of the season following what’s been a trying stretch for the blue liner. After being scratched for Boston’s back-to-back against Detroit and New York last weekend, he admitted to being disappointed. But Shattenkirk has tried to use the adversity in a positive manner as he moves forward.

“It’s tough. You have family and friends going to the game to watch [in New York],” said Shattenkirk. “I’ve been in the league for a long time and that hasn’t happened to me before. I’m grateful for that, most guys don’t get that luxury of playing most of their games. It definitely stung.

“There’s, in my mind, only one thing to do and that’s put your head down and go back to work. Had a great conversation with Monty about it and was just able to reset and focus on what I needed to do to start playing and stay in the lineup.”

One of those things was to be more active offensively, which is exactly what he was on his goal against the Leafs. As Pastrnak carried the puck up the wall, Shattenkirk sneaked down from the right point and was all alone in front to collect Pastrnak's brilliant feed as he dangled with a backhander past Woll for his first of the season.

“It’s our system,” said Shattenkirk. “It’s part of the reason why a week or so ago in and out of the lineup is because I wasn’t playing aggressive enough offensively. Monty conveyed that to me. He trusts that I can see those lanes and see those plays ahead of time.

“With Dave having the puck there, I know he’s a guy that can make that play. That’s something that he encourages us all to do as defensemen. You have to in this league. Happy that it paid off.

“Happy that it was a meaningful goal tonight and we were able to stick it out and win in overtime.”