Pastrnak's highlight-reel power-play tally set off an offensive explosion for the Bruins, who potted three goals within a 5:57 span of the first period en route to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
"It's huge - and to see his little celebration after is pretty funny," said Matt Grzelcyk, who notched a career-high two assists, including the primary helper on Pastrnak's marker. "Definitely gets the crowd involved and gets the guys pumped up as well, and kind of allows the rest of the guys to play a little bit more comfortable."
Grzelcyk precipitated Pastrnak's trickery with a timely pinch along the boards from the left point, chipping the puck to the winger, who gloved it down and wheeled towards the slot - where the real magic began. Churning his feet, Pastrnak pulled off a sensational through-the-legs toe drag, undressing Edmonton defenseman Matt Benning as he headed to the net
"It was good to be able to get in the middle [of the ice] after a broken play," said Pastrnak. "Their [defensemen] had a bad gap, so I figured I would try that and then I just got working to the net."
On his way there, he nearly lost control of the puck, but corralled it on his backhand and proceeded on his way. Pastrnak finished things off with a deke around Oilers goalie Cam Talbot to tie the game, 1-1, and send the Garden faithful into a frenzy.
"We keep the puck alive and we attack the interior," said Cassidy. "What we wanted to do against their PK is get inside, attack their D and see if they can handle us….that was a great goal to get us going. You don't like to give up the first one at home. You have to get it equal as quickly as you can, and he did a great job there."