Pastrnak gives emphatic answer to question about Raanta collision in Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There were a couple of interesting moments between the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes goaltenders during Game 2 of their first-round series Wednesday night.
The first happened in the opening period when B’s right winger David Pastrnak was unable to evade ‘Canes goalie Antti Raanta and they collided. Raanta was shaken up a bit and exited the game. Pastrnak was penalized for goalie interference. There was no reason to believe Pastrnak was skating into Raanta on purpose. After all, the B’s were on a power play and pushing hard to score the game’s first goal.
The other goalie incident happened in the second period when Bruins left winger Brad Marchand slashed Raanta’s replacement, Pyotr Kochetkov, but only after the rookie netminder initiated the altercation by slashing Marchand and then skating toward the veteran forward.
Bruins need more from David Pastrnak after awful Game 2 performance
Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour was asked after his team’s 5-2 win if he thought the Bruins were targeting Carolina’s goalies.
“What do you think? It can’t get any more obvious,” Brind’Amour said.
Pastrnak was asked about his collision with Raanta before Friday night’s Game 3 at TD Garden. He emphatically stated there was no intent to injure the Hurricanes goaltender.
“Whoever thinks I was trying to injure (Raanta) obviously doesn’t understand hockey,” Pastrnak told reporters. “I’d rather say no comment on that.”
Pastrnak added: “We were doing a set play. I’m coming full speed and trying to get the puck, and he’s trying to clear it. Obviously, I want the puck to hit me. I’m not going in there to bury the goalie. I’m there to stop the puck and maybe get a bounce in. He’s getting out of the crease. I just tried to stop the puck and set up our power play.”
David Pastrnak on Antti Raanta collision: “Whoever thinks I tried to injure him obviously doesn’t understand hockey” pic.twitter.com/VqAQicYlY1
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) May 6, 2022
The point of Brind’Amour’s comment was probably to work the referees, who’ve been heavily involved in this series. They ended up calling 22 penalties in Game 2 (13 on the B’s).
The Bruins can’t worry about the officiating going forward. They have to stay disciplined and play this series at 5-on-5 as much as possible. The Hurricanes have dominated the special teams battle through two games.