David Krejci records three-point night in return to NHL

BOSTON -- David Krejci took a year off from the NHL to spend a year playing in his homeland of the Czech Republic. He didn't show much rust in his return to the best league on the planet.

Centering a line with fellow Czech countrymen Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak, Krejci was on the ice for 17:53, and he filled the stat sheet with two assists and a goal in a 5-2 Bruins victory over the Capitals in D.C.

The first point admittedly didn't require too much skill from Krejci, who fed Pastrnak in the right faceoff circle on the power play. Pastrnak's shot was saved, but Patrice Bergeron scored on the rebound, putting the Bruins up 1-0 and giving Krejci a secondary assist on his third shift back in the league.

Krejci's second assist ... was all Pastrnak. Krejci got the puck to Pastrnak in the offensive zone, and Pastrnak dipped through so many defenders that Krejci actually had enough time to get off the ice and allow Charlie Coyle to hop over the boards and enter the offensive zone before Pastrnak's whirling shot found the back of the net.

And Krejci's third point -- this time, a goal -- once again was a credit to his linemate, as Pastrnak got behind the Washington defense for a partial breakaway. Darcy Kuemper made the stop but left a juicy rebound sitting on the doorstep. Krejci happily cleaned up the mess for his first regular-season NHL goal since late April of 2021.

If Pastrnak had scored on that play, Krejci would have picked up his third assist of the night. Hearing him discuss his performance, it seems he might have preferred that outcome.

"I don't know, my job's not really to score goals, but obviously I want to put the puck in the net as well," Krejci said in the locker room. "I just wanted to do anything I could to help the team today. The win was really important to me more than anything and I'm glad we got it done."

The 36-year-old Krejci clearly enjoyed himself in his first real game back, but he also made sure to point out that he was on the ice for both of Washington's goals.

 "Yeah, sometimes I have fun. Sometimes I don't," Krejci said. "In the second period when I back-checked twice and they scored, that wasn't fun. But yeah, when I have the puck on my tape, and I make some plays, then that's fun." 

While Pastrnak -- in the first game of a contract year -- did most of the heavy lifting, the 26-year-old winger liked what he saw from his center. He also expects Krejci to improve as he regains comfort in the NHL.

"I think it's great. Obviously, it's gonna be different for him. You know, maybe if he doesn't admit it, it's obviously different coming from the big ice to small, you know?" Pastrnak said after his four-point evening. "I think he's only gonna get better and, you know, he already looked pretty good out there to me."

Realistically, playing with someone like Pastrnak on the right wing will make any centerman comfortable. Pastrnak turned Erik Haula into a second-line center for a long stretch last year, so the offensive wizardry and creativity within Krejci should make for a rather potent line, even if Krejci's a touch older than he was the last time he donned a Bruins sweater.

"I think it's obviously a confidence, a joy for me. And obviously, I work on my game every day. So, you know, I'm feeling old, but I'm still pretty young," a laughing Pastrnak said. "I definitely think I can get better, and I'm trying to do that every day." 

With Brad Marchand out until around Thanksgiving, the Zacha-Krejci-Pastrnak trio figures to be the Bruins' best scoring line for the first two months of the season. It's a stretch of the season that figures to have its ups and downs, but at least through one night, its potential effectiveness seems quite clear.

"Yeah, it was great. It was, just being around the guys, playing on an NHL rink against the best players in the world, it kind of tests your game a little bit. So I was excited, a little nervous at the same time," Krejci said, after what was his 963rd regular-season game and 1,119th career game overall. "But I'm glad we got it done."