David Pastrnak putting up big numbers for Bruins

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins expected a breakout season for David Pastrnak. They couldn't have expected this.
With two more goals against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, Pastrnak tied Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (who also scored Thursday) for the NHL lead with 18. He is ahead of rookie sensation Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets (17), ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers' Wayne Simmonds (15), ahead of noted scorers such as the St. Louis Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko (13), the Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (12) and the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (12).

"He's playing with a lot of confidence. He's skating and, not only that, he's taking pucks to the net," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "We just have to look at his first goal: He takes it to the net and I know he didn't score on the initial try; he stopped, he stayed there and he jumped on his rebound.
"If more guys start doing that, we're going to get more guys scoring some goals as well. You got to be hungry, you got to want to score. I think right now he's one of those guys that really wants to score, and every night he's giving us some goals."
While one might think "every night" would be an exaggeration, it's not much of one. Before scoring twice on Thursday in the 4-2 loss to the Avalanche, Pastrnak scored once against Washington the night before, and twice against the Florida Panthers on Monday. That's five goals in three games. He went through a three-game drought, if it can be called that, before scoring against Florida, but had scored a goal in each of the three prior games. So, yes, every night is pretty darn close.
It's all the more notable on a team that has, as a whole, struggled to score. The Bruins are 25th in the NHL in scoring at 2.36 goals per game, having scored 66 times. That means Pastrnak's 18-goal output represents more than a quarter of the team's goal scoring. It's all the more notable that Pastrnak has done it in 23 games, having missed five because of a combination of injury and suspension.
The goals on Thursday came in 1:20 of ice time during the second period, with the first at 12:03 and the second at 13:23, seeming to signal a comeback by the Bruins for the second consecutive night. Boston had come back to tie the game and force overtime against the Capitals after going down by three goals on Wednesday. The Bruins were not able to do the same on Thursday.

But Pastrnak continued to score, continued to make headlines.
His first goal came just after he exited the penalty box. Bruins forward Tim Schaller banked a pass off the boards to a streaking Pastrnak, who followed up on his own rebound after going in alone on Avalanche goaltender Calvin Pickard. The second came on a one-timer from the top of the slot off an offensive-zone faceoff.
It was an impressive display.
But after the game, Pastrnak wanted no part of talk about his goal scoring, about his place atop the leaderboard with Crosby. His team had lost, and so that was all he cared to discuss. Though on the second goal, he did give the nod to center Patrice Bergeron for his net-front presence, adding, "I would say it was Bergy's goal."
But as for his own statistics?
"We lost today, I wouldn't really like to comment on my game right now," Pastrnak said.
His teammates did not feel the same way.
"He's a game-changer," defenseman Torey Krug said. "The momentum is going the other way, he has the ability to break away on any given shift and score a big goal for us and he did that [on Wednesday]."
But, he added, the Bruins "can't just keep relying on the same guys to score goals."
Still, it's hard not to appreciate what the 20-year-old has given to the Bruins this season, the way he has broken out, the way he has come into his own. Pastrnak has been an absolutely crucial part of Boston's start.
"He's been great all year long," forward Brad Marchand said. "You see the way he plays. He's able to make something out of nothing and able to turn around a game in a single play. It's great to see that he's doing so well. He's such a great kid and he's really developed into such a great player over the years, so I'm very excited about where he's going to continue to grow."
He's not alone.