BOSTON — The Bruins keep adding milestones to their historic season, and Pavel Zacha was able to reach an individual one when Boston defeated his former team, the New Jersey Devils, on Saturday night.
Not only did the forward score both Bruins goals in the victory over the Devils, but he also secured the first 20-goal season of his NHL career.
“Yeah, it felt good,” Zacha said postgame. “I mean especially against (New) Jersey. That’s a special motivation for me a little bit to show myself, and I was happy that it was against them today. It was a good feeling.”
With David Krejci out of the lineup due to a lower-body injury, Zacha has taken over, centering the second line with David Pastrnak and Tyler Bertuzzi as his wings.
“It’s been good. I love playing center,” Zacha said. “It’s nice that you know, the coaches know that I can, I can play both positions, and they can use me on face-offs and also on a wing, so yeah, it’s been nice.”
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said the transition from the wing to center has been an easy one for Zacha, and they have the confidence in him to put the team in a position to win.
“I think just his ability to make plays, you know, in all three zones, and how fast he’s defending has been the real positive,” Montgomery said postgame. “You know, because our defensive systems are a little different, but he’s a real smart hockey player.
“The pace and purpose he’s playing with, you know, being around David Krejci in Boston, I can be online with him all year. I think he’s learned how to raise his intensity level so that he’s becoming such an effective hockey player in this league. I mean, he’s a top-six hockey player and a real good one.”
Zacha joined David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, Jake Debrusk and Brad Marchand as the other 20-goal scorers on the roster this season. His previous career high was in the 2020-21 season when he scored 17 for New Jersey.
