What David Pastrnak Said About Benching In Bruins’ Win

Bruins superstar David Pastrnak knows his game must be better, and he hopes he took the first steps toward improvement Monday.

The slumping Bruins picked up their second straight win Sunday night against Seattle. It didn’t come without incident, as head coach Jim Montgomery benched Pastrnak for the entire third period. The Bruins won the game 2-0, and after the game, Montgomery’s only explanation was to say it was a coach’s decision.

Upon further review, it appears the final straw for Montgomery was a power-play turnover Pastrnak committed in the final minute of the second period that Seattle almost turned into a goal.

Given a night to sleep on things, Pastrnak gave his side of the story and pledged to be better moving forward. In other words, it sounds as if the message was received by the winger.

“Honestly, just gotta be better,” Pastrnak told reporters after Bruins practice Monday, as seen in a video shared by Mass Live’s Andrew Fantucchio. “I take responsibility (to be) better. But at the same time, I’m just moving forward and focusing on the game (Tuesday). Yesterday was yesterday. I never look back. Came in today and worked on my game.”

Pastrnak wasn’t a complete no-show Sunday night. He put seven shots on goal in just 14 minutes of ice time. The turnover, though, was a tough pill for the Bruins to swallow. Pastrnak knows it, too.

“That was a bad turnover,” Pastrnak admitted. “I take responsibility for it, accountability I guess is the word. You know, I just want to move forward. I don’t want to be any distraction to the team. The guys know how I feel about them here, and it was a bad play. I take accountability moving forward.”

Pastrnak’s teammates didn’t sound concerned with Pastrnak’s play. If anything, there’s a good chance this lights a fire under the All-Star. That’s exactly what happened when Montgomery called out Pastrnak in the first round of the playoffs, and he scored the game-winning goal against Toronto in overtime of Game 7.

Next up for the Bruins? They’ll go to Toronto on Tuesday night.