Bruins' David Pastrnak had a funny exchange with Charlie McAvoy before his overtime winner in Calgary
BOSTON -- With less than a minute left in overtime Tuesday night, Bruins star David Pastrnak was gassed and looking for a line change. Instead, he ended up scoring the game-winner for Boston in Calgary.
With the Bruins and the Flames notched at 3-3 in the extra frame, B's defenseman Charlie McAvoy cut off Calgary's Nazim Kadri has he made his way to the Boston net. Pastrnak ended up with the puck, and quickly fired it to McAvoy in hopes of getting a chance to leave the ice following a lengthy overtime shift.
But McAvoy wanted a change of his own. He turned as he skated up the neutral zone and sent the puck back to Pastrnak, who then skated into Calgary's zone and fired one on net from the right circle. Pastrnak just wanted to put the shot on goal and maybe get a whistle so Boston could make a change.
Instead, his wrister beat Calgary's Dustin Wolf and clanged in to lift Boston to a 4-3 overtime victory. It capped off solid road comeback for the Bruins, who trailed 3-1 entering the third period.
Pastrnak sounded a bit surprised that the shot resulted in his third game-winning goal of the season, and his first since Nov. 12 in St. Louis. But he certainly wasn't complaining after the victory.
Pastrnak's funny exchange with McAvoy before game-winner
With a lot of extra space on the ice, overtime shifts are exhausting. Pastrnak was on the ice for over 2:30 minutes of Tuesday night's extra period, and his final shift was his longest, clocking in at 48 seconds before he tallied the game-winner.
So you can understand why he was a bit gassed before he riffled the puck by Wolf. The same goes for McAvoy, who had been on the ice for 42 seconds on on that final shift.
"We both were out there long, and I was yelling at him to keep it so I could change. He just dropped it to me and said, 'You keep it,' and he went to change, so it was kind of funny" Pastrnak told reporters after the win. "Long shift. That's what it is with overtime. It gets up and down sometimes.
"There was a minute left, so I just wanted to get it on net, maybe get a whistle, and luckily the shot went in," Pastrnak added.
Pastrnak played a team-high 23:06 over his 30 shifts on Tuesday night. His overtime winner was his 12th goal of the season and his fourth in the last eight games. Brad Marchand leads all Bruins skaters with 13 goals, but Pastrnak leads the team in points with 33.
Bruins come back with two goals in third period
Pastrnak's game-winner never would have been possible if it wasn't for a Bruins comeback in the third period. Boston was down 3-1 heading into the final frame of regulation, but scored twice in a 2:37 span to pull even.
Morgan Geekie knocked in a rebound just 4:14 into the period, and Marc McLaughlin knotted things at 3-3 when he put home his own rebound at the 6:51 mark. The Bruins were the aggressors in the third, outshooting Calgary 15-5.
"Real proud of the effort in the third period," said interim head coach Joe Sacco. "Our guys showed a lot of determination and a 'Never Say Die' attitude, and good on them. We did it the right way and generated a lot of quality chances. When you play that way, the result will usually take on the process and it takes care of itself out there."
"You play until the last whistle and everything is game," said Pastrnak. "We went through some hard times already during the season so it's important for us to show that we've learned and we're not going to give up. We're going to fight."
The Bruins continued their fight in overtime, putting four shots on net while keeping the Flames from putting any on Jeremy Swayman, who made 20 saves on the evening. Boston outshot Calgary 35-23 for the game.
Tuesday night was just the third time Boston has won a game when trailing after two periods this season, improving to 3-12. It was the first time the Flames lost a game when leading after two, as Calgary was 7-0-0 in that scenario heading into the game.
The Bruins have now won six of their last eight games and are 2-2 on their current five-game road swing. They'll wrap up this trip Thursday night when they pay a visit to Edmonton Oilers.
