David Pastrnak had quite the regular season in 2019-20.
The 24-year-old Czech sensation set career highs with 95 points and 48 goals, winning him a share of the Rocket Richard Trophy — awarded to the player with the most goals during the regular season — with Alexander Ovechkin.
Pastrnak also set a career-high in games as he played in all 70 of Boston’s contests before the league’s pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. With 12 games remaining the time of the stoppage, Pastrnak was well on his way to the prestigious 50 goal/100 point milestone.
“I was actually more mad about the 100 points than the 50 goals, to be honest,” Pastrnak said during Monday’s Zoom call with the media. “Overall, it was a good season.”
Pastrnak dazzled during the regular season with highlight-reel goals and led the Boston Bruins to a Presidents’ Trophy with 100 points. He earned his second straight all-star selection where he served as captain for the Atlantic Division squad and earned All-Star Game MVP honors.
The 2014 first-round selection recently earned the Czech player of the year for the fourth consecutive season, tying him with the legendary Jaromir Jagr. While individual awards have become the new norm for Boston’s dynamic right-winger, that isn’t his main focus.
“Huge honor obviously. Rocket, sharing it with Ovi is a huge honor,” Pastrnak said about his recent accolades. “He’s been winning it every single year almost. For me to share it with him is even more special. Other than that, I have huge respect for these guys. But at the end of the day, it’s an individual trophy and that’s not my main focus.”
Instead, Pastrnak has his sights set on avenging last year’s heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the St. Louis Blues and bringing a Stanley Cup back to Boston.
“Last season was an unbelievable experience for me. I don’t think I would be where I’m at without last year,” Pastrnak added. “But obviously we had a great season, and I think we were a better team than last year. We’ll see.”
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