BOSTON -- Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak has put up big numbers this season. His 18 goals through Monday are the most in the league behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby.
Even bigger? Pastrnak's personality, both on and off the ice.
It's infectious. The fans love it. His teammates feed off his energy.
"He's been great all year long," said Pastrnak's linemate Brad Marchand. "He's is able to make something out of nothing and he's able to turn the game around in a single play."
And the best part? Pastrnak is only 20 years old.
The winger's personality has seemingly surfaced on a nightly basis for the Bruins this season -- and not just because an errant stick to the face in October took a chunk out of his front teeth and left him looking like Lloyd Christmas from "Dumb and Dumber."
Pasta's missing a few chiclets after last night's game...😬 pic.twitter.com/E2RlNYWOpa
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 4, 2016
Case in point: As Boston battled the Florida Panthers in overtime on Monday, Bruins center David Krejci took control of the puck deep in the offensive zone. The Panthers were playing man-to-man defense during the 3-on-3 OT when Pastrnak purposely skated back into the neutral zone. He quickly cut back, leaving his stunned defender flat-footed. Krejci fed a quick pass to Pastrnak, who pumped in his second goal of the game for the winner.
It was an uncanny move by Pastrnak, to create so much time and space. Not many players would deliberately take themselves out of the play before jumping back in with a game-changing, jaw-dropping move like he did -- and it generated the game-winning goal. Pastrnak admitted after the game that he had exited the zone on purpose.
"I saw Krech had a lot of time, so I wanted to pick up speed outside the zone," he said with a shrug. "He said he saw me outside the zone, so he held onto it and he made a good play."
After he scored, Pastrnak celebrated -- as he usually does -- by kissing his hand and pointing to the sky to honor his late father, Milan.
When he was 15, Pastrnak left his parents and his native Czech Republic to play in Sweden. Because his goal was to play professional hockey in North America -- and ultimately, in the NHL -- Pastrnak decided it would help to learn English while he honed his skills on the ice.
He became more fluent both on and off the ice during his second season in Sweden, but just four days before his 17th birthday, Milan -- who had coached Pastrnak's junior team -- died after a long illness. A little more than a year later, on June 27, 2014, the Bruins drafted Pastrnak in the first round (25th overall). As he walked up to the Wells Fargo Center stage in Philadelphia that night, he kissed his hand and pointed to the sky.
Pastrnak split time between the AHL and NHL during the 2014-15 season as an 18-year-old. He played only 46 games for the Bruins and quickly learned that finding his footing in the NHL wasn't going to be easy -- especially without his father to lean on. While with Boston's AHL affiliate in Providence, coach Bruce Cassidy and former NHLer Jay Pandolfo worked closely with him. Cassidy and Pandolfo are both now assistant coaches for the Bruins and have witnessed firsthand how Pastrnak has developed.
"Pando and Butch [Cassidy] did a great job when I was in Providence," Pastrnak said. "I've been around those guys for three years and they've helped me work and get better every day." He credited Bruins assistant Joe Sacco and Bruins head coach Claude Julien as well.
There's this silly myth in the hockey world that Julien doesn't trust -- or like dealing with -- younger, inexperienced players. But Julien was a successful junior and AHL coach before moving to the NHL. And, during his 10-year tenure in the Bruins organization, he has helped develop players such as Pastrnak, Marchand, Krejci, Milan Lucic, Tuukka Rask and Torey Krug, just to name a few.
While at times Julien limits his young players' playing time, he believes it's simply part of the learning curve and development process. That plan has clearly worked with Pastrnak.
"He's been our best forward since the beginning of the year," Julien said. "He's coming into his own. [His confidence] is at its highest right now, and rightfully so."
Managing the puck to reduce turnovers was one major thing Pastrnak needed to work on, but teaching that kind of discipline without stripping a player of his imaginative impulses can be a challenge.
"When a guy is creative like that, every once in a while the plays aren't going to work and you're going to get those [turnovers]," Julien said. "But more often, he's making the great plays, so you work with that. It's more about him growing into the player everybody anticipated him to be."
Pastrnak has a nose for the game. He wins puck battles. He controls the play and possession. He routinely uses his game-changing speed to catch defensemen off guard. And his ability to dominate one-on-one is a perfect example of his high-end skill.
"I love him," said one Western Conference coach of Pastrnak. "He has great offensive instincts. He's a natural goal scorer with great release, and he gets his nose dirty. He's got a little bite to him. And he's a perfect fit for Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand."
Pastrnak has also worked on his two-way game, and he has made strides there too, this season. He has become a dangerous, dynamic player who has made the Bruins a better team. It helps that he's on a line with Bergeron and Marchand, who are considered among the best two-way players in the game.
"It's great to see how he has developed. He's such a great kid," said Marchand of Pastrnak. "He's going to continue to grow, and he's going to be a great player for us."
Pastrnak will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season. There's no doubt Boston needs to sign him to a long-term deal, but he might need to settle for a bridge deal to stay with the Bruins because of their salary-cap constraints.
His goalie, for one, hopes he sticks around.
"He's very creative," said Rask. "He's been a talent, a young talent, for several years and he's finally taken the last step and is kind of making a little name for himself."