Boston Bruins: David Pastrnak Scores In First Game For Czech
Boston Bruins: David Pastrnak Scores In First Game For Czech Republic At World Junior Championships
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David Pastrnak didn’t take long to make an impact at the World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland. The NHL roster freeze was officially lifted on December 28th, and David Pastrnak played his first game with his hometown team of the Czech Republic on the same day. With a little help from Jakub Zboril, one of the Boston Bruins’ three first round draft picks from 2015, David Pastrnak scored a power play goal which would ultimately be the game winner.
The Boston Bruins are going to be without their top center in David Krejci for the foreseeable future with the Boston Bruins’ stating that his injury will keep him out of action on a week-to-week basis. With that in mind, the Bruins could certainly use the talents of their 2014 first round pick in David Pastrnak back in the lineup sooner, rather than later.
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While David Pastrnak is showing that he has a scoring touch at the AHL and IIHF levels with one assist in his two contests with the Providence Bruins, and one goal in his first game on the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championships, the Bruins want to make sure Pastrnak’s conditioning is up to par. After missing roughly seven weeks of action, the Boston Bruins felt that Pastrnak could use some additional conditioning before he ultimately makes his return to the NHL, and there is no better place to compete than at the World Junior Championships.
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It is obviously the dream of many hockey players around the world to play in the NHL and win a Stanley Cup, but wearing the jersey of your country and competing internationally is something that only a select number of players ever get to experience. David Pastrnak will have the opportunity to play for his home country while also playing against some of the best players in the world at his age level — the motivation and compete level will be higher at the tournament than it ever could be at the AHL level, that much is clear.
As for the David Krejci situation, the Bruins practiced with Ryan Spooner slotting into Krejci’s usual spot between Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson, while Landon Ferraro took Spooner’s spot in between Frank Vatrano and Jimmy Hayes. The Bruins haven’t made any call-ups yet, and with the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic set to take place on New Years Day, it seems unlikely that they will make any significant adjustments to the lineup.
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