How Bruins Forward Remained Undeterred By Costly Penalty

BOSTON — Bruins forward Mark Kastelic certainly made his presence known in Boston’s 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday at TD Garden.

The 25-year-old made his way onto the scoresheet with the primary assist on Charlie Coyle’s first goal of the game in the first period, but Kastelic also found himself with a two-minute roughing minor and 10-minute misconduct midway through the second period.

Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson threw a leg check on Kastelic just before the Bruins forward could enter the offensive zone. After the whistle, Arber Xhekaj dropped Trent Frederic, which Kastelic took exception to, especially after Xhekaj took another shot at Frederic after the refs broke up the scrum.

The result secured Kastelic a seat in the locker room for the remainder of the period and in the penalty box for the beginning of the final frame.

“I think I’ve been in that situation before,” Kastelic said of missing a big chunk of ice time. “I come in here (to the locker room), and I ride the bike for six or seven minutes just to stay involved and stay engaged, and I think that really helps me when I get back out there and I have flat legs.”

Kastelic joined the Bruins as part of Boston’s trade with the Senators that sent Linus Ullmark to Ottawa. Even though he has only been wearing the Spoked-B for a couple of months, Kastelic admitted how emotional he was seeing the pre-game ceremony celebrating the Bruins’ centennial season.

“Just to see these guys all come in and all the history here, I’m just blessed and thankful to be a part of this organization,” he said. “Tonight was super special.”

The forward gave up his usual spot on the fourth line to Marc McLaughlin and moved up to the third line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic.

“It was really fun tonight. It was fun playing with guys who can play all different positions and versatile out there,” Kastelic said. “Those are two great players, and I like to think that I can compliment those guys well, and it just helped playing down low. We’re all comfortable in that area of the ice and in our (defensive) zone, so I think the chemistry was there.”

Kastelic recorded his third multi-point game of the season when he was reunited with John Beecher and Cole Koepke late in the third period and notched a secondary assist on Koepke’s empty net goal with 2:14 remaining in the game.