But now Pastrnak, nicknamed "Pasta," has his own version of noodles to serve the sauce on: Pasta pasta, if you will.
Pastrnak and the supermarket chain Stop & Shop unveiled the Pasta pasta on Tuesday next to stacks of limited-edition boxes of penne, which will be on sale for 88 cents at selected stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island to support pediatric cancer research and care at Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund.
"I want to take advantage of the position I'm in," said Pastrnak, who wears No. 88. "It takes very little for me to help the community. It's so easy for us to take a couple hours per day [to help] Dana Farber. I really want to help out, especially for kids."
The black-and-gold boxes feature a picture of Pastrnak on them, along with his signature and the Bruins logo. Pastrnak said he brought one box with him to Warrior Ice Arena for Bruins practice on Tuesday and it "disappeared pretty quickly." He said he'd have to bring more on Wednesday.
"I like all the types [of pasta]," Pastrnak said. "I try to switch it up. My favorite is obviously penne. Pretty much any pasta that has Bolognese on it."
But while Bolognese has long been his favorite, Pastrnak admitted to switching up his usual order these days.
"It's a long season, so you get a little tired of it," Pastrnak said. "I came up with this new recipe. I have pasta penne, obviously - I'm going to have to start eating some Pasta pasta, bring it over to our chef - with Bolognese. I put a scoop of alfredo and a scoop of pesto. Doesn't sound great but tastes unbelievable."
