Shoot Fast: David Pastrnak Stat Proves He’s NHL’s Best Opening-Goal Scorer

Good things happen when David Pastrnak shoots early and often.

The Boston Bruins right wing has been the NHL’s most prolific opening-goal scorer since the start of last season, according to a stat the league shared Thursday night. Pastrnak scored the first goal Thursday night in the Bruins’ 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, taking his tally of openers since the start of the 2019-20 campaign to 23. His closest rivals are some distance behind him.

“David Pastrnak scored his 23rd game-opening goal dating to last season,” the NHL’s public relations account wrote in a tweet. “@pastrnak96’s totals are 11 more than the next closest players (Nikolaj Ehlers, Auston Matthews & Travis Konecny all w/ 12).”

Although Pastrnak is a first-goal specialist, a closer look at his stats shows he’s perfectly capable of scoring in other situations: Of the 67 goals he has scored since the start of last season, 23 of them have been openers, comprising 34 percent of his tallies.

Pasta not only is a fast scorer. He’s a balanced one, too.