Pastrnak can put ‘brilliance’ on display for Bruins at Stadium Series

TAMPA -- The 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS) is the perfect vehicle to showcase the brilliance of David Pastrnak.

It’s not like the Bruins forward needs it, says teammate Charlie McAvoy.

“If you don’t know who David Pastrnak is, you are living under a rock,” the defenseman said after practice here on Saturday.

He smiled a bit, but there was also some disbelief in his voice at the suggestion that Pastrnak needed to be discovered by segments of the hockey public.

Yes, most hockey fans know the personable forward from Czechia. His mega-watt smile and bubbly personality have been used to hawk Pepsi and Dunkin’ Donuts. He is a legend in Boston, among the most popular players to don a Bruins sweater in the past decade.

But his skills on the ice are still a surprise to some.

Pastrnak shared the Maurice Richard Trophy with Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals when each scored 48 goals in the 2019-20 regular season. That is his only major individual award.

He was one of the first six players named to Team Czechia’s roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, which starts Feb. 11 and ends Feb. 22.

But he isn’t always mentioned in the same sentence as forwards like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche or even Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning’s prolific forward.

But Pastrnak should be, says young Boston forward Fraser Minten.

“He’s elite, elite,” the 21-year-old said. “There are good players, there are great players and there are exceptional players, and I would put him in the highest tier you can. He’s got the ability to change a game at any time with his talent and his playmaking, his creativity.”

The Bruins enter this showdown against the red-hot Lightning -- 16-1-1 in their past 18 games -- without their top two centers; both Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha were injured during a 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday and are unavailable.

That could be a bit unnerving for Boston, which is five points behind Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division despite being 8-1-1 in its past 10 games.

Bruins forward Sean Kuraly says Pastrnak can mitigate the absence of those players with how brilliantly he has been playing. Pastrnak leads them and ranks sixth in the NHL with 69 points (22 goals, 47 assists) in 50 games.

Since Jan. 1, he has 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 14 games. Kucherov (31 points; nine goals, 22 assists) is the only player with more since the New Year.

Kuraly says he has never seen Pastrnak as engaged as he is right now.

“It’s even more of him, more “Pasta,” more of what he does well,” Kuraly said. “It’s just more often. He’s leading out there, that’s for sure.

“He’s been our heartbeat. He brings it every night, plays hard. When you have a guy with that much talent and skill playing like that, it’s easy to follow.”

Marco Sturm knew how good Pastrnak was before he was hired as Bruins coach on June 4, 2025. He had seen him on TV and coached against him during previous stops as an assistant.

But even Sturm has been surprised by the in-person experience.

“There are so many things in his game and between his ears that we can’t really teach,” Sturm said. “The stuff he does on the ice daily, even how he thinks the game is different. You can see it in his game. He’s a very gifted, talented player.

“The way he plays right now for the month of January, I’m just happy to kind of witness that.”

McAvoy has watched Pastrnak up-close for almost a decade.

The defenseman joined the Bruins for the first time during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, leaving at the end of his sophomore season at Boston University. He was 19 and getting his first taste of the NHL during its most tense time of the season. Pastrnak was McAvoy’s roommate on the road.

He was wide-eyed in those early moments, and the awe hasn’t left his voice almost a decade into the adventure they have shared, each since emerging as a foundational member of the organization.

Pastrnak, 29, surpassed 900 points with a three-assist performance against the New York Rangers on Jan. 26. He has 902 points (413 goals, 489 assists) in 806 games.

“I kind of took a step back and admired the brilliance of his career so far, what he’s accomplished, what he is going to accomplish, not even being 30 yet,” McAvoy said. “He’s got a chance to do something really special with where he is at.”