David Pastrnak Named NHL’s First Star Of The Week

After missing the first seven games of the season, Boston Bruins superstar winger David Pastrnak came roaring out of the gate with five goals and three assists in four games. The fast start earned Pastrnak, the reigning and co-Rocket Richard winner with Alex Ovechkin, NHL First Stars Of The Week honors.

David Pastrnak and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) respiratory therapist Amy Ginter have been named the NHL’s “First Stars” for the week ending Feb. 7. Throughout this season the NHL is celebrating and honoring “the remarkable efforts of the off-ice stars who make it possible for us to play our games amid a pandemic by honoring frontline healthcare heroes from the regions represented by the League’s weekly and monthly “Stars.”

Per the NHL Public Relations Department:

Ginter, a Bruins season-ticket holder since 2017, has been a respiratory therapist at Boston’s BIDMC for 13 years. “Respiratory therapy, as an occupation, is not widely known or understood by the general population, but we are a key part of the bedside care team with nurses and doctors,” explains Ginter, who has worked on a COVID-19 crisis assignment during the pandemic. “Our responsibility is the patient’s airway, so we initiate and manage ventilators (life support) as well as other means of ventilatory support.” Coronavirus has presented significant challenges that she never has witnessed before, but Ginter is proud of her profession and feels blessed to be part of such an integral team.

David Pastrnak is coming off a 48-goal season and after offseason hip surgery, the Bruins sniper is already in midseason form as he prepares to play his fifth game of the season when the Bruins travel to New York to play the New York Rangers on Wednesday and Friday. David Pastrnak already notched his first hat trick of the season in another third period comeback for the Bruins in a 4-3 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers last Wednesday. That was his ninth career hat trick in just his seventh season. 

Patrick Kane, who helped his team go 2-0-1 over three games with two goals and five assists, was named the second star of the week, and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry, who had four goals and two assists in four games was the third star.