David Pastrnak agreed, saying that after back-to-back losses, players can start gripping their sticks too tightly, losing focus on the finer details. The Bruins' star forward knows it's on the team to get back on track.
«We can still say it's early in the season, but we know we need to play much better,» Pastrnak said to reporters. «You see some frustration in the team because we expect the highest standard here when we wear the Spoked-B. That's an honor, so we hold ourselves to that. It's up to us, the leaders, to help everyone focus on the details and get back to winning.»
In their 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, the Bruins again led the game in penalty trouble, taking five minors, which gave the Stars three goals on the power play. Pastrnak ended up in the box twice and admitted to taking too many penalties this season.
«There's no doubt I took too many penalties,» Pastrnak said. «Honestly, I can't remember taking this many in my career until now. I put the team at a disadvantage twice in one game, and that's on me.»
Across the season's first eight games, the Bruins have already racked up 88 penalty minutes from 44 minor infractions, leading the league. While they've allowed nine power-play goals, Nikita Zadorov managed to break his streak by avoiding penalties for the first time this season on Thursday. Through eight games, he leads the team with nine minor penalties.