Bruce Cassidy Says Conditioning Was Issue For David Pastrnak, Ondrej Kase
BOSTON (CBS) -- The month of July was not a particularly fun one for Bruins wingers David Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase.
The two Czech forwards were forced to sit out on some extra quarantine time while the rest of their teammates were ramping up their skating in advance of heading to Toronto for the playoffs. Pastrnak was able to at least travel on time with the team, while Kase had to join the group later on.
As a result, head coach Bruce Cassidy admitted Wednesday that the conditioning level of his top two right wingers was not where it needed to be for that playoff run.
"Obviously missing time, [Pastrnak] and Kase, their conditioning level wasn't where it needed to be to stand the rigors of that," Cassidy said. "And that was a bit of circumstance."
The 24-year-old Pastrnak managed to produce, scoring three goals and picking up seven assists in 10 games played. He did look fatigued in the Bruins' final game, which went deep into double overtime, and he also missed time during the team's first-round series against the Hurricanes. That injury certainly hampered him, even after his return.
"I know that Pasta had a lower body injury he played through the whole playoffs," Cassidy said. "You could see he wasn't at top speed."
Kase, also 24, was a bit more disappointing, as he managed to generate 27 shots on goal without scoring a single goal in the bubble. He did tally four assists in his 11 games played.