David Pastrňák scored a 5:4 win for the Boston hockey players in Montreal and finished the NHL regular season with 61 goals.
Editing of the Montreal – Boston match | Video: Associated Press
He was one goal short of the Czech record held by Jaromír Jágr. The native of Havířovsk took second place in the battle for the best scorer of the competition behind Edmonton’s leader Connor McDavid, who scored three more goals.
Pastrňák played in all 82 games in the regular season, and with a balance of 61 goals and 52 assists, he finished third in the productivity of the competition. In the history of the NHL, only Jágr collected more points among Czech players, whose maximum was 149 points from the 1995/96 season.
Pastrňák dominated the club’s productivity and led Boston to victory in the regular season, in which the team broke the NHL record for the number of wins (65) and points (135).
In Montreal, the Czech striker assisted the goal to make it 1:1 and in the 51st minute broke the tie at 4:4 when he finished off the interplay at the left post with a shot into the open goal. He was named the first star of the match for his performance.
Boston will face Florida in the first round of the playoffs, which on Thursday missed three passes by Radek Gudas and lost at home to Carolina 4:6.
The Czech defender scored twice the second assist during quick counterattacks. He got the remaining point for a good tackle, during which he disrupted goalkeeper Frederik Andersen’s pass and after his pass from behind the goal, Ryan Lomberg equalized from the middle of the circle to make it 2:2. Gudas also recorded ten hits.
Stanislav Svozil made his NHL debut with an assist in Columbus’ 3-2 overtime win over Pittsburgh.
The 20-year-old back spent almost twenty minutes on the ice during his debut and also got a chance in the power play, in which he was part of the combination for Emil Bemström’s goal in the 57th minute to make it 2:2. The game was decided by Johnny Gaudreau.
David Kämpf assisted with an assist in Toronto’s 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers. David Rittich allowed three goals on 24 shots and did not prevent the defeat of Winnipeg 2-4 on the ice of Colorado.
Karel Vejmelka covered 19 attempts in Arizona’s 4-5 overtime loss to Vancouver. The Czech goalkeeper was beaten three times by Conor Garland, who completed a hat trick in the 62nd minute.
