Home. He was talking about a physical home, about an apartment of his own, about a place to -- as they say -- rest his head. But he could just as easily be talking about the city, about the team, about his new line, about his place in the game.
For the past five years, since the 2010-2011 season, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron have played almost exclusively together, with a sometimes rotating cast on the right wing. That has been Mark Recchi's spot and Reilly Smith's spot and Loui Eriksson's spot and Lee Stempniak's spot. It was assumed, for a time, that David Backes would get some time there.
But for now, the slot has gone to Pastrnak, and he has both the results and the promise of more.
"Last two years, they try me a couple times in that line and it didn't work, so this year, I was going all for it," Pastrnak said. "I was like, 'Let's make this work, guys.' I asked them what they want me to do and I try to listen. I think we do a pretty good job so far. It's a lot of stuff to get better at, and I think we're going to get better as the games go on."
It didn't start out that way, as Marchand admitted. The line had a week in training camp between the return of Marchand and Bergeron from the World Cup of Hockey 2016 and a minor injury to Bergeron before the season started. As Marchand said, "We really didn't play that well together."
That has changed. Though Bergeron missed the first three games of the season, with Backes substituting for him on the line, the three have combined for eight goals and nine assists already this season.