The History Behind Pastrnak’s Penalty Shot Gem

The Boston Bruins are 2-0-0 as they head into the second week of the 2023-24 regular season, and their superstar winger David Pastrnak is off to a scorching start with three goals, one of those three being a game-winner.

Taking nothing away from the beautiful goal David Pastrnak scored off a Milan Lucic feed in the season-opening 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks last Wednesday, how can one not still be talking about his penalty shot goal he sniped past perennial Vezina Trophy candidate and Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros in the 3-2 win on Saturday night?

This was the sexiest thing Pastrnak could’ve done pic.twitter.com/I3umA4TqXX

— lex (@nhllex) October 15, 2023

So where did Pastrnak’s trickery on his second career penalty shot goal originate?

“I don’t know if you know the sport floorball,” Pastrnak said following the game on Saturday night. “It’s a big sport in Europe. I promised my buddy I would go practice with them. I went, and I was terrible. They all shoot like that. I tried it there, and I was really bad at it. But I tried it on the ice, and I was much better at it than I was in floorball practice.”

Pastrnak told the media that since returning from Czechia for training camp and the preseason, he’s been practicing it at practice and in games but without much success.

“I tried a couple of different shots this summer,” the affable Pastrnak said. “I was working on that fun shot, and it was a little different. I tried it a couple of times. …tried it in the preseason, actually. I hit the logo right in the middle of the goalie. I didn’t have much confidence going into it, but it worked out.”

It worked for him and the Boston Bruins when it counted most, though, and left his head coach, Jim Montgomery, and goalie, Jeremy Swayman, in awe.

“Disguised it. Looked like Luis Tiant on the mound, right? Brought it back behind him,” said Montgomery, who grew up a diehard Boston Red Sox fan.

Meanwhile, the goal left Swayman waiting for Pasternak’s next magic trick.

“I mean, it’s hard to believe that he gets the top quarter from behind his back, and that’s something. There’s a reason why he’s … one of the best forwards in this league, and he works out every day, and he’s got a bunch of those kind of moves,” Swayman told the media on Saturday. “So, I’m excited to see what he brings to the table. And we all knew that was going in when he touched the puck.”