BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy made two highlight-reel plays for the Bruins at TD Garden on Monday and those contributions went a long way in Boston’s 3-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators.
McAvoy finished with three assists in the contest, two of which were scored by David Pastrnak. First, McAvoy faked out a group of Senators defenders on what proved to be the game-winning goal by Pastrnak and later followed it up with a pass from his backside and through the neutral zone to propel Pastrnak’s breakaway bid.
“I wasn’t calling for it, but he saw me so he had a great block with his ass and just passed it to me when he was on the ice,” Pastrnak said of McAvoy’s assist on the insurance goal. “Really unbelievable plays on both goals of mine so great job by Charlie.”
McAvoy’s second assist of the game came after David Krejci earned a faceoff win in the offensive zone. McAvoy faked that he was going to send the puck around the end boards, but instead collected the puck and slid a perfect pass to Pastrnak who was all alone on the opposite dot. McAvoy’s play got Ottawa defenders to commit and thus granted his twine-seeking teammate with way more space than he’s accustomed to.
“He just let it bounce off the boards and I told him right away, ‘That’s an unbelievable play,'” Pastrnak said of his message to McAvoy. “Hats (off) to him, great pass. Beat three guys with one pass so that’s a superstar play.”
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery was equally impressed by the contributions of Boston’s homegrown stars.
“I think (David Pastrnak) and Charlie McAvoy were special tonight,” Montgomery said prior to speaking on McAvoy’s first assist to Pastrnak. “But that play, it’s hard for the opposing team to stay with anybody because of the play that Charlie McAvoy made. I mean, I’ve never seen that special of a play in a situation like that.”
Here are more notes from Bruins-Senators:
— Not to be overshadowed by McAvoy’s playmaking, Pastrnak scored his 40th and 41st goals of the season. It marked his first two-goal game since Jan. 16.
“His speed was very noticeable,” Montgomery said of Pastrnak. “When he’s really on like it was tonight, it jumps out at you. When he has his B-game, it still jumps out at you. That’s how good he is. And he was just ultra creative.”
— The Bruins honored David Krejci before Monday’s contest after the 16-year veteran played his 1,000th NHL game Jan. 16. Boston pulled out all the stops with a handful of special gifts and a video of teammates past and present offering their congratulatory remarks.
“Yeah, it was like I said more than I expected,” Krejci said. “It started before the game with the boys so yeah, just special moment and very, very thankful that I’m part of this team.
“You know all my close friends were up there and it definitely hits home a little bit,” Krejci continued. “I appreciate all those guys that are really close to me and hearing them talk, yeah, it was pretty special.”
— Unfortunately despite the best efforts of Pastrnak and others, Krejci wasn’t able to cap the special game with a goal. And Pastrnak, as on display late when the Senators pulled their goalie in the final minute, certainly tried his best to do so.
“It’s amazing and, you know, well-deserved,” Pastrnak said of Krejci’s ceremony. “He’s been a Bruin his whole career. It’s amazing to get 1,000 games and it’s a lot of years so, we’re all happy for him. We wanted to get the win for him and his family, and his kids and bunch of people from Czech Republic. So it was definitely a big game for him to enjoy that but I would say it was big for us, for the whole team. We really wanted to get that win for him.”
— Boston now gets set to head out West for a four-game road trip. The Bruins will kick off that trip Thursday night as they take on the Seattle Kraken with puck drop set for 10 p.m. ET, which you can watch live on NESN.
