Bruins forward David Pastrnak reached a big milestone on Tuesday night when he scored the 400th goal of his NHL career. It came as part of a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston's seventh straight victory.
The Skate Pod: Pastrnak scores 400th goal, Bruins beat Leafs again
And it wasn’t just an ordinary goal; it was one with signature Pastrnak flare. It came when he finished off a breakaway, deking around Dennis Hildeby to make it 4-1 Boston in the second period. What made the moment special for Pastrnak was that all of his teammates cleared the bench to celebrate with him on the ice.
"It really hit me when the guys came over,” Pastrnak said. “That was so cool what they did for me. That's when probably it really hit me and it was awesome to top it off with the win. It was a great night.”
“It was very special,” he added about his teammates all jumping on the ice to celebrate. “I did not expect it. I didn’t even know it’s allowed, honestly, for 400 goals, so I was worried that we were gonna get a penalty.”
Pastrnak is the sixth Bruin to reach the 400-goal mark in the black and gold and has a real chance to surpass Johnny Bucyk’s 545 goals by the end of his career if he stays in Boston and keeps up his current pace.
Pastrnak, who also scored career goal No. 401 later in the game, is currently sitting just one goal behind Rick Middleton for fifth place in Bruins history.
Pastrnak was particularly excited to celebrate the milestone in front of the home crowd at TD Garden, which wasn’t the case with some of his other major career milestones.
“When I had the season with 60 [goals] and also that was the first year that I hit 100 points, it was both away. So to be able to do it at home in front of our fans, that’s why it was special,” Pastrnak said.
Pastrnak said he never anticipated hitting this milestone when he was growing up in the Czech Republic.
“Coming from where I came from and if you tell me that when I joined this league, you know, I wouldn’t believe you. So big thanks to my family and obviously all of my teammates,” Pastrnak said.
As for his thoughts on continuing to climb up the Bruins scoring list, Pastrnak said: “I just love scoring, love to play-make, so hopefully I have some more goals in me and just keep playing the right way.”
Here’s what Pastrnak’s teammates had to say about him and his 400th goal:
Morgan Geekie: “He’s a special player. We're lucky we get to see it day in and day out and just the way he handles himself on and off the ice, so it’s super special…to be right there with him in the huddle was awesome.”
“The superstar that he is, you would never know that from talking to him,” Geekie added. “Everybody is an equal to him in here. We all look up to him and we all learn every day from how he carries himself.”
Nikita Zadorov: “He’s unique. I think he’s so unorthodox the way he plays…He has unbelievable hockey IQ.”
Hampus Lindholm, who is in his fifth season of playing with Pastrnak, had this to say: “It’s about time,” he joked. “No, he’s one hell of a player. I’m fortunate to have him as a friend and have him on my team, and everyone here knows how special he is to this group. No one deserves it more and no one works harder for it either. Super happy for him and his family, and there’s going to be more goals coming from his stick in the future too.”