A little bit of home cooking coupled by an extra serving of Pasta, proved to be the winning recipe for the Bruins, Friday night.
David Pastrnak potted the game-winning goal and added an assist leading the Bruins to a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, May 6 at TD Garden. With the win, the Bruins cut the best-of-seven playoff series deficit to 2-1, with a chance to tie the series Sunday afternoon.
The homecoming win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Black and Gold, especially after two lackluster efforts out in Raleigh earlier in the week.
“Coming home to your own building, you want to protect your house,” said Pastrnak. “We just stayed focused and that was the main thing. We didn’t worry about anything else, about what’s happening out there. We stayed focused on our gameplan, (and gave) a full 60 (minute effort). We played a pretty good game and that’s something we have to build on.”
Holding a slim 2-1 lead in the second period, Pasta provided the key ingredient to the Bruins struggling powerplay. The 6-foot, 194-pound winger scored off a saucer pass feed from Brad Marchand, beating Carolina netminder Pyotr Kochetkov stickside at 14:53, giving Boston the 3-1 edge.
It marked the first goal of the playoffs for the talented sharpshooter, and the eventual game-winner.
“It was good that we got that one,” said Pastrnak, noting the team’s recent struggles with the man-advantage. “It took a while, a lot of patience but it’s a big one and hopefully we can take over from now.”
The slick-skating Czech also got to showcase his passing skills while on the powerplay in the third period. After misfiring on a couple attempts, he worked a nifty give-and-go with all-star winger Taylor Hall. Bluffing a shot, Hall dished to Pastrnak before quickly returning the favor setting up the ex-Oiler for a goalmouth tap-in at 4:09 of the third period.
“I don’t think (Hall) hesitated,” said Pastrnak, on the play. ”I think he just faked the pass, kind of froze them a little bit. Earlier in the same shift I missed the net, so I just went back to him he obviously made a great play. Way to stick with it.”
Although Carolina seemed to dominate the Bruins during its regular season run, as well as its first two playoff games in Raleigh, North Carolina, Pastrnak maintains that the postseason is an entirely new entity.
“You can’t really compare playoff games to regular season,” Pastrnak said. “Obviously they had the edge on us in the regular season, but playoffs is a different animal. Yes, we can look at the stuff that worked against them, or what went wrong during the regular season, but at the same time its two great hockey teams facing each other during the playoffs. You’re not looking back at games that happened in November. We’re a different team than that now, and literally got a taste of how it is to win (tonight). We have to build from that.”
And anything is possible when Pasta is on the menu.
