Pastrnak eyes rare feat with 50 points in 49 postseason games for Bruins

David Pastrnak has a chance to join exclusive company Tuesday if he can score his 50th point in his 49th NHL postseason game.

The Boston Bruins forward has six points (two goals, four assists) in six games this postseason, giving him 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in 48 NHL postseason games. If he scores one point in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS), he would become the seventh active NHL player to score 50 points before playing 50 postseason games.
The others to do it are Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (37 games), Pittsburgh Penguins centers Sidney Crosby (37) and Evgeni Malkin (40), Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (46), Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (46), and Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (49).
"I think the first year we had him, he had a lot to learn his first playoffs (2017), like a lot of guys," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Pastrnak, who was 20 years old that season. "It was tougher the next year, now you're against Tampa [Bay] the second round, a really good series against [the Toronto Maple Leafs], a completely different animal in how they defend, how physical they play."
Cassidy said Pastrnak has learned lessons about patience, being productive at even strength, and how the Stanley Cup Playoffs are not the same as the regular season.
"Certainly, power play can help trigger those numbers, but at the end of the day, 5-on-5, you need to produce if you want to be a point-a-game guy in the playoffs, and he's able to do that," Cassidy said. "So that's what I've seen out of [Pastrnak]: his growth, his second effort, his willingness not to get discouraged or frustrated when he gets shut down for a game or a period.
"Sometimes David gets lost in our lineup when we have a lot of penalties. He loses some shifts, so he's got to mentally stay in the game, and I think he's done a better job with that."
Pastrnak made his playoff debut in his third NHL season, and he scored four points (two goals, two assists) in a six-game loss to the Ottawa Senators in the 2017 first round.
The next season, he scored 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 12 games, including 13 (five goals, eight assists) in seven games against the Maple Leafs in the first round. He scored seven points (one goal, six assists) in a five-game loss to the Lightning in the second round; six of his points (one goal, five assists) in the 2018 playoffs came on the power play.
He followed that up by scoring 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 24 games in Boston's run to the Stanley Cup Final last season.

This postseason, the 24-year-old was ruled unfit to play and missed all but one practice at training camp. He played in Boston's three losses in the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers but failed to score a point. He had a goal and an assist in a 4-3 double-overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the first round but missed Games 2, 3 and 4. He returned with two assists in the series-clinching 2-1 win in Game 5, and had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win in Game 1 against Tampa Bay.
"The one thing about [Pastrnak] is his release is so fast," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "When you look at the power-play goal he scored [in the second period Sunday], now [David] Krejci makes a [heck] of a pass to him, but that's on and off the stick. A lot of guys can't do that. It looks like you can, but they can't, especially to put it where you want to."
Pastrnak, who tied Ovechkin for the NHL lead with 48 goals this season and was tied for third with 95 points, was denied the chance to score 50 goals when the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
"To be honest, it's a little sad, but I was actually more mad about the 100 points than scoring 50, to be honest," Pastrnak said in June. "But overall it was a good season. Sometimes in the world things happen that you can't control and that's what happened."

Pastrnak began the regular season with with 25 goals in 27 games, prompting questions whether he could become the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games since Brett Hull in 1991-92. That mark has been hit eight times by five players: Maurice Richard for the Montreal Canadiens (1944-45), Mike Bossy for the New York Islanders (1980-81), Wayne Gretzky (1981-82, 1983-84, 1984-85) for the Edmonton Oilers, Mario Lemieux (1988-89) for the Penguins and Hull (1990-91, 1991-92) for the St. Louis Blues.
But he couldn't quite get there, slowing from that pace to score three goals in the next 12 games.
Pastrnak can join a different elite group with a point Tuesday, and help the Bruins build on their lead in the best-of-7 series.
"I think he's put a little more responsibility on his shoulders knowing that he has to produce," Cassidy said. "He's a top-end guy now. He's paid like that. He's respected like that throughout the League and our team, so he knows that there can't be very many nights off if we want to be successful."