Did Bruins F David Pastrnak Pull A Dougie Hamilton?

Did Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak pull a Dougie Hamilton?

In case you need a reminder, the polarizing Carolina Hurricanes defenseman was widely ridiculed for giving up on an icing puck because he felt Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin coming in fast behind him for a big hit in Game 5 of the first round series the Hurricanes won in seven games. Ovechkin grabbed the puck and fed it in front to Brett Connolly who buried it by Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek.

In the Bruins’ 4-2 Game 4 loss Monday, with his team already down to the St. Louis Blues 1-0 early in the first period, Pastrnak was in a race for the puck deep in the Blues zone and saw Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist lining him, so he gave up on the puck and braced for the hit. As former NHLer and NBC Sports Boston analyst pointed out on air Monday night, the play was frustratingly similar to Hamilton giving up against Ovechkin.

“That reminded me a lot of the Hamilton-Ovechkin incident and that’s not good; that can’t happen,” Amonte said. “It definitely set the tone physically for the night.”

Pastrnak finished the game with no points, at a minus 1, with four shots and two turnovers.

You be the judge. Is Amonte right?

Just heard @tony_amonte say this is reminiscent of Dougie Hamilton letting up on puck because of an incoming Alexander Ovechkin and completely agree. Hopefully David Pastrnak got called out by his teammates and coaches for this. Not a good look and he played that way all night. pic.twitter.com/lPCgIZalqJ

— Jimmy Murphy (@MurphysLaw74) June 4, 2019