Many believe Pastrnak was not playing due to possibly being injured, but following the game Jim Montgomery cleared the air and revealed that it was not an injury, but instead a coaching decision to keep Pastrnak on the bench for the third period.
Montgomery said it was a coach's decision to sit Pastrnak in the third, then won't elaborate. So that's something.
A turnover from Pastrnak during the final minute of the second period later surfaced on X, with many believing this was the cause for Pastrnak to miss the whole third period, take a look:
For those curious as to what moment specifically lead to Jim Montgomery benching David Pastrnak in the 3rd - Notice the situation, score, time on the clock, and momentum that would have gone the other way due to a careless, trying to do it all yourself, turnover. #NHLBruins
Today following practice, David Pastrnak finally opened up on the situation and took accountability of it.
David Pastrnak on his benching last night:
That was a bad turnover. ... I just want to move forward. I don't want to be any distraction to our team. The guys know how I feel about them here. It's a bad play. I take accountability and already moving forward."