Boston Bruins: David Pastrnak named NHL first star of the week

Boston Bruins‘ star right wing David Pastrnak started his 2021 NHL season just two Saturdays ago and he has already been named the first star of this past week.

After getting offseason surgery to fix a labral issue in mid-September, Pastrnak was slated to miss five months of action and return in mid-February. Remarkably, Pasta returned two weeks earlier than expected.

Pastrnak returned two Saturdays ago, on Jan. 30. He started off a bit slow, registering just an assist in that game and looking a bit off with his reactions and shot accuracy.

However, it didn’t take him long to shake off the rust as he scored five goals and two assists over the next three games. So over four games last week, Pasta had five goals and three assists for eight points. His incredible play earned him the honor of NHL first star of the week.

David Pastrnak’s hot start for the Boston Bruins isn’t very surprising.

Last season, Pastrnak finished with 48 goals and 47 assists for 95 points in just 70 games, a 1.36 points per game rate. So far this season he is averaging two points per game. This isn’t surprising, but I wouldn’t expect him to keep up this incredible pace. I expect it to fall back down closer to 1.5 points per game.

Before the season began, I wrote an expectations piece for Pastrnak. I’ll admit, with him and Brad Marchand coming back from serious injuries, I thought both would see a decline in production. Boy was I wrong.

However, I’m not surprised that Pasta is playing better and producing at a higher rate than last season so far. He’s playing at 100%, along with Marchy playing at 100%.

Additionally, the fact that Pastrnak was able to return two weeks earlier than expected, shows just how committed, ready, and healthy he was. Although I expect his production to regress a bit as the season progresses, I also wouldn’t be surprised if it stays where it’s at.

If Pasta can keep this pace up, he’ll definitely win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the second season in a row and have a strong chance at winning the Hart Trophy for league MVP, even with missing three weeks of the season.