But the Bruins let the Wild back in the game, mostly because of David Pastrnak’s carelessness with the puck. During a breakout, Pastrnak tried to send a hinge pass back to Patrice Bergeron in the middle. Pastrnak’s pass was off the mark, allowing Mikael Granlund to score at 1:33 of the third.
Later in the third, Pastrnak’s poor entry during a power play allowed Granlund to go the other way. Krug tripped Granlund, who was given a penalty shot. Rask punched out Granlund’s forehander with his blocker. The Bruins continued their power play, but not with Pastrnak, who was replaced by Charlie McAvoy on the No. 1 unit for the rest of Matt Cullen’s slashing penalty.
Coach Bruce Cassidy gave Pastrnak another chance after Niederreiter was called for roughing. But more Pastrnak softness with the puck allowed Eric Staal to score a shorthanded breakaway goal at 15:56.
“There are times you’re going to get your chance to show your skill,” Chara said. “But there are other times where you have to do what’s right, whether you’re going to place the puck in a good area for us to go on the forecheck, eat the puck to make a play, or chip the puck out of the zone. Simple things like that.”
By the time Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau pulled relief goalie Alex Stalock for an extra skater, Cassidy had seen enough. He pulled Pastrnak off the first line, replacing him with Riley Nash. The Bruins survived Minnesota’s counterattack. But it didn’t need to be that close.
“Sometimes you’re going to give him some rope and hope he doesn’t hang himself with it,” Cassidy said. “Other times, you’re going to pull back. It’s just a feel. Sometimes it matters how the rest of the group’s going. Who else is in the lineup? Are you putting a better player out there in that position?
“Sometimes you just send a hard message no matter who’s there: ‘Hey, enough’s enough.’ There’s different ways to do it in-game. Tomorrow, there’s conversations. ‘Hey, do you want to be a leader? You’re getting into that phase of your career. Is that how leaders play?’ You kind of see what he thinks of the whole situation.
“He might have a different answer. Those are the challenges coaches face trying to grow his game without shutting him right off. So that’s what we’ll do tomorrow.”