BOSTON — David Krejci was the man of the hour Monday afternoon.
The forward played in his 1,000th NHL game — all with the Bruins — in Boston’s 6-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden.
It’s a pretty remarkable milestone, especially given the fact Krejci played last season in Czech Republic. Only Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Wayne Cashman, Johnny Bucyk, Don Sweeney and Ray Bourque amassed 1,000 games with the Bruins before Krejci.
The 36-year-old also had a heck of an afternoon on the ice. Aside from receiving a standing ovation for reaching 1,000 games, he finished the the game with three assists.
Accoridng to NHL Public Relations, Krejci is just the fifth player in NHL history to have at least three assists in his 1,000th game.
“I think a lot of players have so much respect for him, and rightfully so,” head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “He’s a Bruins legend and he showed why (Monday). He’s makes everyone better. … Krejci has the ability to make anybody better. That’s what elite players do. They make everybody want to play with them.”
He’s so much of a legend, in fact, that Pavel Zacha’s parents were watching the game from Czechia because they said it was a big deal for the country.
“He’s a legend back home and now he’s a legend here,” Zacha said.
For Krejci, Game 1,000 had been on his mind quite a bit.
“I was obviously thinking about this game recently a lot,” he said. “It’s obviously a big accomplishment playing for one franchise, for an organization like this. I’m really proud of myself to be able to do that.”
Here are some other notes from Monday’s Bruins-Flyers game:
— The Czech line was playing on another planet Monday.
Krejci, Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak combined for nine points in the win, including two goals from Zacha, who’s fresh off a four-year extension with the Bruins.
— Pastrnak continued his torrid pace by scoring his 34th and 35th goals of the season. He leads the Bruins by a large margin (the next highest is Patrice Bergeron with 16), and has shown no signs of slowing down.
In fact, Pastrnak has been a goal machine in his last 82 games.
— Nick Foligno was ready to drop the gloves with Travis Konecny after the latter threw a jab at Foligno, but Konecny wanted nothing to do with that. Both were sent to the box for two minutes and was caught on a hot mic talking to the referee on his way to the penalty box.
— Brad Marchand, who has said his game isn’t quite where he wants it to be after undergoing double hip surgery in the offseason, had another strong game that included a goal and an assist. The forward now has 40 points in 35 games played this season.
— Matt Grzelcyk continued to throw salt in the Flyers’ wounds with his third goal of the season in the third period to make it 6-0. The defenseman now has two goals in as many games.
Jeremy Swayman turned in another strong performance Monday afternoon, stopping all 30 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season.
“The guys in front of me make my job easy,” Swayman said. “It’s just awesome to be part of a team like this and shut it down in front of me.”
— The Bruins return to action Wednesday night when they travel to New York to take on the Islanders. Puck drop from UBS Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NESN.
