Before Monday’s game, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said that the Czech line of David Pastrnak, David Krejci and Pavel Zacha was the one line that he was OK with playing more of a trading-chances game than a possession game, because he believed their talent level would lead to more goals off those chances than their opponents would get.
Monday’s 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators was a good example of that theory playing out on the ice. That line did give up a couple chances, as did the rest of the Bruins against a scrappy Senators team that has given them some trouble this season.
They also scored Boston’s second and third goals, though, on Pastrnak’s 40th and 41st goals. Both showed off the skill Montgomery was talking about, particularly that of Pastrnak and defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
The first of the two goals started with an offensive-zone faceoff win from Krejci, who was honored pregame for playing 1,000 career games as a Bruin. Pastrnak then sent a pass across to Charlie McAvoy, who made skill play No. 1 when he spun off an Ottawa defender before sending the puck back to Pastrnak.
Then came skill play No. 2, with Pastrnak taking a couple steps in and sniping the top corner over Kevin Mandolese’s glove. It gave Pastrnak his third career 40-goal season (and in just 56 games this year), and he became the second player to hit that mark this season after Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who is now just one ahead of him for the league lead at 42.
Pastrnak’s second goal was also assisted by McAvoy, who made a great play to flick a pass up the ice from his knees and send Pastrnak in on a breakaway. From there, Pastrnak calmly waited for Mandolese to open his legs before sliding the puck five-hole.
“I thought he was hanging on to pucks a lot. I thought his speed was very noticeable,” Montgomery said of Pastrnak after the game. “When he’s really on like he 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. He’s just ultra-creative. I thought him and Charlie McAvoy were special tonight.”
The context of Montgomery’s comments before the game about trading chances was a question about actual goals vs. expected goals. The Czech line entered Monday with an actual goals share of 64.5% at 5-on-5 play, but an expected goals share of just 46.4%. (On Monday, by the way, they finished at 80.1% expected goals.)
Normally, that big of a difference between the two numbers could be cause for concern. Actual goals tend to regress towards expected goals over a long enough period of time. That could certainly happen at least a little bit here, but Montgomery said he wasn’t overly concerned about it.
“Well, I do think that the last 10 days have not helped that, but they can be 50% [in expected goals] and you can still end up plus-20 goals at the end of the year because they’re more talented than the people they usually play,” Montgomery said. “So, it’s kind of a line you don’t mind trading chances with, because they’re usually going to end up on the right side of things.”
It’s not an approach he takes with other lines, all of which are expected to, and do, play more of a puck protection game.
“Yeah, they’re the only ones that have that green light,” Montgomery said. “I mean, [Patrice] Bergeron and [Brad] Marchand would probably have that green light, too, but they don’t play like that.”
The current formula is certainly working. The Czech line has now doubled up opponents with a 22-11 goal differential on the season. The third and fourth lines scored four of the Bruins’ goals in Saturday’s win over the Islanders. The top line has gotten hot since Jake DeBrusk’s return as well, with DeBrusk opening the scoring Monday for the second time in as many games since rejoining the lineup.
At some point, the Czech line may have to adjust its game to be a little more possession-oriented. For now, though, Montgomery is perfectly fine sitting back and watching them fill up the box score every night.