David Pastrnak has four points in five games in the Bruins’ first-round series against the Maple Leafs, but he has yet to truly take control of a game like Brad Marchand did in Games 3 and 4, or Auston Matthews did it in Game 2.
Pastrnak wasn’t the only one to have a tough Game 5 as Boston failed to close out Toronto, but his sloppiness with the puck and inability to create much offensively stood out.
During his weekly appearance on the Greg Hill Show on Thursday, former Bruins and NHL analyst Mike Milbury said he didn’t like what he was seeing from Pastrnak and had heard that there was “something going on over there.” Listen to the full interview above.
“Well, I gotta tell you, there’s something going on there,” Milbury said. “I spoke to a few people. He looks unhappy. I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t have enough, you know, passing the power play or what, but he’s been brutal at times. He was a liability. His turnovers are terrible. I mean, I took a penalty the other night, it was horrible.
“He looks like he’s off his game. He doesn’t look like he’s having a lot of fun.” I’ve seen him withdraw and make bad decisions in certain situations. And then he comes back and blocks a shot, which was remarkable for him. But I don’t like his game. And without his game picking up, whether they win this series or not doesn’t matter. They’re not going to get anywhere with their best player playing at, you know, maybe 65 to 70 percent of his capacity.
Host Greg Hill then asked Milbury to clarify whether he had actually heard that Pastrnak wasn’t happy.
“I heard he looked bad, yeah,” Milbury said. “It just doesn’t seem like…his mood isn’t there.” He’s not focused enough. And I don’t know what the problem is, but it’s not a good time to have that kind of attitude in the playoffs. You should be pumped up, ready to participate in every game, and not complaining, whining, or looking like a disgruntled camper.
Pastrnak and the rest of the Bruins have another chance to bounce back and finish off the Leafs on Thursday night in Toronto, with puck drop for Game 6 scheduled for 8 p.m.
