David Pastrnak was deemed “unfit to play” for the second, third, and fourth games of the series vs the Carolina Hurricanes but he was back for Game 5 and it seemed like he provided a jolt to the offense in terms of creating more scoring opportunities.
The second period changed the game in Boston’s favor after Carolina had an early 1-0 lead.
Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron had two one-on-one scoring chances on the Canes goalie but nothing came of it. But then David Krejci was able to score off a rebound on the first power play of the period to tie the game at one.
I mentioned the scoring opportunities that Pastrnak helped create in his Game 5 return and a prime example of that was when he recorded the assist on a late second period goal.
With 3.5 seconds remaining in the second, Pastrnak shot one high off the glass and Bergeron came up with the puck from behind the net and shot it off of goalie Petr Mrasek‘s left skate before it rebounded into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
The Carolina Hurricanes are heading back home and the Boston Bruins will wait to see who their next opponent will be in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the win, there will be a minimum of five days without a game inside the bubble for the B’s.
(Photo: Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
