Haggs: A Deserved Boston Bruins Day For David Krejci |BHN+

BOSTON – David Pastrnak chuckled a bit when asked about a three-assist night for “Czech Mate” linemate David Krejci on the afternoon that the playmaking Boston Bruins center was playing in his milestone 1,000^th NHL game.

The game-breaking right winger admitted that they were all trying to get a goal for No. 46 on his day when he received a warm, appreciative ovation from the TD Garden crowd, but watching him set up others scoring goals was so much in line with what Krejci has always been as a player.

Standing ovation for Krejci's 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th pic.twitter.com/DUmzFM5pwZ

— NESN (@NESN) January 16, 2023

So watching David Krejci finish with three helpers and a plus-3 rating in a 6-0 rout of the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden on Monday afternoon was a reminder of just how good the creative, cerebral Krejci has been setting up his teammates over the last 15 years. He’s literally been making everybody around him on the Boston Bruins better for a decade-and-a-half, and he’s consistently done it without All-Star accolades, a pile of NHL Awards or any of the other hype machine sounds that surround most of the players of his hockey ability level.

Instead, it’s been about winning and keeping the Boston Bruins in the playoff mix, and that’s something he’s done year in, year out for a long, long time with his name scratching the record books every once in a while. In fact, Krejci became just the fifth player in NHL history to log at least three assists in his 1,000^th NHL game.

“I was mad, I really wanted him to score, but you know that’s [David Krejci],” Pastrnak said with a chuckle after he and his teammates were feeding Krejci for goal attempts in the third period. “He loves to pass, and I get it. The kind of player he is, it makes him happier when he can set up players to score goals. How I said, there’s not many kinds of players that are a playmaker like he is, so for me it’s a huge honor to be his teammate and to become such a good friend with him and he’s been with me since Day 1.”