As one of the NHL’s preeminent scorers, Boston Bruins right winger David Pastrnak strikes fear into opponents every time he takes the ice. The 28-year-old Czech native has averaged at least a point per game for six straight seasons - and alongside Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, he is one of four players to eclipse 110 points in each of the past two years.
With a new NHL season starting in less than two weeks, BetMassachusetts.com wanted to investigate which teams Pastrnak performs at his peak versus. This is what they discovered.
Rank | Team | Games Played Against | Total Points Against | Points Per Game |
1 | Seattle Kraken | 6 games | 10 points | 1.66 PPG |
2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 27 games | 40 points | 1.48 PPG |
3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 31 games | 43 points | 1.39 PPG |
Over the course of his ten-year career, Pastrnak has recorded 727 points in 674 games, good for an average of 1.08 points per game. But it is the NHL’s newest team against whom he has produced his best numbers, something to keep in mind ahead of another NHL season across Massachusetts sports betting.
Fueled by an elite 22.6% shooting percentage, his highest mark versus any team, Pastrnak has put up seven goals and three assists in six meetings with Seattle, finding the back of the net in five of those games. However, these stats come in an extremely small sample, as he has appeared in at least 11 games against every other team in the league.
On the other hand, Pastrnak’s points per game averages versus Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are built on years of longstanding domination. The two Pennsylvania franchises are the only ones he has over 40 career points against.
Pastrnak has posted 22 assists versus the Penguins, tied with Buffalo for the most of any opponent, while his 26 goals against the Flyers account for four more than the next closest team. Additionally, four of Pastrnak’s nineteen career hat tricks have come facing Philadelphia, something he has done no more than twice against anyone else.
Rank | Team | Games Played Against | Total Points Against | Points Per Game |
1 | Los Angeles Kings | 15 games | 12 points | 0.80 PPG |
2 | Vancouver Canucks | 17 games | 14 points | 0.82 PPG |
3 | Florida Panthers | 31 games | 26 points | 0.84 PPG |
Pastrnak’s numbers versus his worst opponents are still respectable and would put him inside the top 200 in league history for points per game if they were his career averages, but there are certain factors that have held him back in these situations. The vagaries of shooting percentage largely bear responsibility for his relative lack of success against Los Angeles and Vancouver, with Pastrnak only possessing a worse shooting percentage versus St. Louis than the Kings and Canucks.
Unsurprisingly, the Blues, Kings and Canucks account for three of only five teams that Pastrnak owns a negative career plus-minus against, his worst mark coming against Vancouver at -7. The Washington Capitals are the only Eastern Conference opponent he sits in the negative versus, though he has produced 33 points in 30 games against them, good for 1.1 points per game.
Among Atlantic Division rivals, Florida has proven to be Pastrnak’s toughest team to crack. Although he is a career +3 against the Panthers, they have held him to two fewer goals and two fewer assists than any other divisional foe. Pastrnak’s 11.3% shooting percentage versus Florida is also a low point for him compared to his numbers against the rest of the division across MA betting apps.
Rank | Team | Games Played Against | Total Points Against | Points Per Game |
1 | Ottawa Senators | 28 games | 38 points | 1.36 PPG |
2 | Montreal Canadiens | 29 games | 38 points | 1.31 PPG |
3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 28 games | 36 points | 1.29 PPG |
4 | Detroit Red Wings | 28 games | 33 points | 1.18 PPG |
5 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 35 games | 37 points | 1.06 PPG |
6 | Buffalo Sabres | 37 games | 38 points | 1.02 PPG |
7 | Florida Panthers | 31 games | 26 points | 0.84 PPG |
Versus non-Panthers divisional opponents, Pastrnak has played much closer to his peak levels. Fellow Atlantic members Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Detroit rank four through seven on his points per game productivity list, and while he has not been nearly as effective against Tampa Bay and Buffalo, he still averages over a point per game when facing them.
Despite scoring 1.36 points per game versus Ottawa, the Senators have limited Pastrnak to a plus-minus of just +2, a division low for him. Pastrnak is at least +10 against four of the other seven divisional members, with a high mark of +12 against the Canadiens. His best plus-minus versus any opponent comes at +21 versus Philadelphia.
Pastrnak and the Bruins open the 2024-25 season on Oct. 8 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
USA Today photo by Sam Navarro.
Author
Josh Markowitz is a freelance writer for BetMassachusetts.com. He is a lifelong sports fan with an emphasis on basketball, football, baseball, and the scouting/evaluation process. A graduate of Elon University's School of Communications, Josh also has experience in television production.
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