After the Bruins suffered their second loss in as many games when they dropped Thursday's contest against the New York Islanders, head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters he was hoping for secondary scoring.
Considering Boston was missing an offensive playmaker in Brad Marchand, who had his suspension upheld, it was even more important that others step up to end the team's recent skid. But another key factor in Boston's suddenly lowly offense was the struggle of David Pastrnak.
The star winger entered Saturday having gone four games without a point. After a red-hot month of January, Pastrnak had been limited to four goals in February, though they came during the first two games of the month.
Luckily, while it wasn't always pretty, both the secondary scoring and Pastrnak came alive to help Boston earn a 3-2 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Center.
First, it was a pair of unlikely heroes who found the back of the net for Boston with Jake DeBrusk opening the scoring and Brandon Carlo logging what at one point was the go-ahead. Even the assists came from unlikely places: Jack Studnicka helped out DeBrusk's goal, while Taylor Hall and Mike Reilly were credited as the helpers on the winner.
And in the extra period, Pastrnak made up for lost time with a powerful one-timer that sent Boston to victory at 2:42 of the three-on-three frame.
After the game, Pastrnak explained what he thinks led to his recent scoring woes.
"I got away from shooting the last couple of games," Pastrnak said via Zoom. "But at the same time it was maybe a little bit of the situation, sometimes I feel like there's a better spot to pass than shoot and then there's not. So sometimes it's the decision-making. Lately they've been going the wrong way, but it's good to get one today, and obviously the important thing is we got a win coming home."
Thanks to the win, the Bruins finished their four-game road trip with two wins, a loss and an overtime loss.
Here are more notes from Saturday's Bruins-Senators game:
-- Cassidy criticized his defense prior to Saturday's game, telling reporters he wanted the group to be a bit more, well, intense rather than being the nice guys they are off the ice. He called out Charlie McAvoy for doing so recently, but said he was looking for more physicality from the entire core.
After Saturday's win, Cassidy was asked whether the defense lived up to his expectations.
"I think the effort was there to do it," he said, speaking to reporters via Zoom. "Charlie McAvoy had some good hits. (Matt Grzelcyk) was holding his ice. I think (Mike) Reilly was trying to be more confrontational when pucks were coming into his side. I know (Connor Clifton) is gonna try to bring it every night, he knows that can separate him and maybe some of the other guys to stay in the lineup."
-- Carlo was a game-time decision after the defenseman was cut by Linus Ullmark's skate during practice Saturday. But he was able to play, with Derek Forbort being ruled a healthy scratch.
After the win, the winger offered some insight into the extent of his injury, which he said was on his forearm.
"Luckily it was a really nice, clean cut and in the right spot," he said postgame. "It didn't reach all the way to the muscle and that was a good thing ... Definitely some stitches. It was pretty deep but because of the placement of where it was, didn't damage anything, so we got lucky there."
-- The Bruins next hit the ice Monday when they host the Colorado Avalanche at 1 p.m. ET. You can watch the game, as well as pregame and postgame coverage, live on NESN.
