Pastrnak provides snapshot moment for the Bruins

It was to the chagrin of some Toronto media, and perhaps some of the Leafs players themselves, but it’s actually a pretty good indicator of how tight this team is becoming that there was zero hesitation about recognizing No. 88’s moment.

Certainly, it was the most meaningful part of the evening for Pastrnak after not having to wait very long after notching No. 399 last weekend in Toronto.

“It really hit me when the guys came over,” said Pastrnak. “It was so cool what they did for me. It was awesome to top it off with a win. The only thing was the season when I had 60 [goals] and hit 100 [points] for the first time they [both happened] away [from Boston]. Just to be able to do it at home in front of our fans, that’s why it was special. The 60th goal wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as this one being at home.

“Now having a family, having a daughter and a wife, they are supporting me and obviously you get to thinking about my mom and my brother supporting me for my whole career. That’s when it hit me. It’s something that in like five or 10 years will be really awesome to enjoy with my family. I love scoring and I love to make plays, so hopefully I have some more goals left in my career if I just keep playing the right way.”

The only Bruins player to reach 400 goals in fewer games played than Pastrnak was Hall of Famer Phil Esposito, and that leaves him in truly elite, rarified company in terms of franchise history, and that certainly speaks to the impromptu team-wide celebration that took place after he scored the breakaway goal for the milestone moment.

It also speaks to the level of leadership that Pastrnak has built for himself in the Bruins dressing room, where it was interesting to hear head coach Marco Sturm equate it more to Alex Ovechkin than Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand or Zdeno Chara in terms of his style and method in helping establish a team culture.

“Pasta is obviously a pretty special player. To score 400 goals is this league is pretty amazing. We were all really happy for him that he reached that milestone, and because he’s such a good guy too. He means a lot to not only the organization, but to the fans too. So it was great for him to do it at home,” said Sturm. “We were talking about it in the coaches’ room after the game and that he’s got a lot of goals still left in him. 400 goals? That’s…I told [assistant coach Chris Kelly] that was more goals than you and I had together [in the NHL], and that’s including practice.  

“He does it his way. I can’t really compare him…maybe to [Alex] Ovechkin a little bit. I played with Ovie and he was similar, I think, to Pasta a little bit. Definitely not like a Chara or a Bergeron, but that’s the way he is. He’s a fun guy to be around and the guys feel it. He tries to stay positive and the stuff he does on the ice is on top of it. He’s the whole deal. We’re all rooting for him. Not just because of the milestone, but because of the way he treats everybody. That’s what always comes back to him.”

There are so many times when Pastrnak being so good, for so long, can almost be overlooked by Bruins followers because he’s been consistently great for such a lengthy period of time, and because he’s still relatively young in terms of his entire NHL career. But Tuesday night’s milestone moment was a great snapshot to recognize the player that one day is going to go down as the greatest goal-scorer in Bruins franchise history if he continues to produce at his current level for another 5-10 years.