BOSTON — David Pastrnak said he has no problem with the Florida Panthers or anybody seeking him out for hard checks.
The Bruins star winger expects it and as long as it’s legal, he’s got no beef with it.
“I don’t have any problem being hunted or as long as it’s within the rules and it’s clean hits. I can take those. I have no problem. I can take a hit,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. “Zero problem with a clean hit. … You have to take it. And it’s a tough sport, so if you can’t take it, you shouldn’t be in the league.”
Pastrnak said he hasn’t watched video of the A.J. Greer hit that sent him sprawling and raised the temperature in the Bruins’ 4-3 loss to the Panthers on Monday.
“I know it was from behind. I didn’t see the replay. I didn’t see what happened after,” said Pastrnak, whose face hit Jesper Boqvist’s skate on the ice, cutting his upper lip. “I didn’t see him coming. It was behind. I don’t know if it was cross-check or just a push because he was from behind.”
Pavel Zacha, who had just one fight in his career before that, immediately jumped in to fight Greer, who was not penalized for the initial hit.
“Definitely appreciate it. We always have each other’s back. And we will always do that in this room. So it’s great to see. And, you know, I’m proud of him,” said Pastrnak, who made sure to thank Zacha. “You appreciate the guy having your back and just you want to make sure he knows that you would do the same for him. So, yeah, obviously appreciate it.”
Pastrnak said the honor of standing by your teammates still has to come with discretion.
“Both of those games against Florida, we were very undisciplined, taking unnecessary penalties and you put the team like Florida on the power play, they’re gonna make you pay,” said P{astrnak, who took an ill-advised interference penalty shortly afterward.. “So we make it harder on ourselves against those guys because we give them so much opportunity on power plays. It was pretty tight game, but they got the power play goals, and that was tough to come from behind.”
The Bruins begin a three-game road trip beginning on Wednesday at 9 p.m. against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.