The Bruins\u2019 overtime plan was the same as it always is. Mark Kastelic takes the opening faceoff, wins the all-important draw and heads off the ice, to be replaced by a player presumed to have more offensive chops.<\/p>\n
If he loses the draw? Well, things get a little complicated. Without possession, Kastelic can\u2019t automatically go for the change.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what happened on Tuesday night. But Kastelic made it work to the Bruins\u2019 favor and, thanks to a heads up by the rugged forward, the B\u2019s took both points in their 2-1 OT win over the Los Angeles Kings.<\/p>\n
On the winning play, Kastelic pounced on a loose puck next to goalie Jeremy Swayman, circled behind his net and made a long pass to the Kings\u2019 blue line and David Pastrnak, who in turned relayed it to Charlie McAvoy for the game-winning goal.<\/p>\n
All\u2019s well that ends well?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tricky one now. I created that mess. Now he\u2019s going to lose it for sure, so he can stay out there,\u201d joked coach Marco Sturm on Wednesday. \u201cNo, I still want him to change. But things happen. But it\u2019s not like I\u2019m in a panic mode. I think any time there\u2019s a 3-on-3 overtime, if you can skate I\u2019m fine with it. And he\u2019s a guy who can skate. Is he skilled like Pasta? No, but at least he can skate. And he can defend. So I\u2019m glad it worked out. He was a big part of that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kastelic pointed out that he actually won the draw and that it hit a leg, either his or the official\u2019s and Quinton Byfield was able to get the loose puck to a teammate. The NHL\u2019s play-by-play backs him. Even when the puck didn\u2019t cooperate with him, Kastelic dove to get it back, to no avail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI treat those faceoffs like life or death, honestly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But with the puck in the Kings\u2019 possession, he wasn\u2019t looking for a quick escape hatch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I had the confidence in that situation, even if I lose it I still know what I\u2019m doing out there,\u201d said Kastelic. \u201cI take a lot of pride in the defensive part of my game so I think that\u2019s an area I can thrive in. So even if that play didn\u2019t happen, per se, but eventually to be able to get possession and then change, I feel like I\u2019d be doing my job. Chipping in offensively in that situation is just a cherry on top. Win or lose, I feel confident in that situation with the way the game was going. I was feeling pretty good. I guess in that case, it paid off to lose the draw.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 6-4, 235-pound Kastelic has enjoyed his most impactful season as an NHLer. He and Tanner Jeannot have made up a line that has had two slightly different identities. Earlier this year, the brawny Kastelic and Jeannot helped to birth young Fraser Minten into being a regular NHL centerman, granting him the space to gain confidence and become the playmaker he has become.<\/p>\n
After Minten was utilized in more offensive roles, Sean Kuraly was put between the wingers to create a highly effective, physical fourth line. That trio has been pivotal in making GM Don Sweeney\u2019s bottom-up retool work, at least to this point.<\/p>\n
For Sturm, who did not know much about Kastelic, the Arizona native has been a pleasant surprise. Last year, his first with the B\u2019s, Kastelic\u2019s combination of speed, physicality and belligerence earned him a three-year contract extension worth $1.56 million per season. But a concussion he suffered in Tampa on Jan. 9, 2025 knocked him out of the lineup and hampered his effectiveness after that.<\/p>\n
This season, it took a little while for Sturm to see what Kastelic can offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone thought there would be more in him but (I was) still not sure. His preseason was just OK,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cBut then, for some reason, in Game 1 in Washington, he was all in. Since then he\u2019s been great. He\u2019s played third line for me, he\u2019s killing, he\u2019s taking faceoffs any time it\u2019s on the right side, OT faceoffs. There\u2019s more and more, and that\u2019s why. He\u2019s done more than I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kastelic is not afraid to earn his ice time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarco\u2019s been very fair. I think he\u2019s such a fair coach. If you\u2019re playing well, he\u2019s going to play you, no matter what line you\u2019re on or what position you\u2019re in. And I love that. I think it\u2019s fair and it\u2019s honest,\u201d said Kastelic. \u201cBut I think this year I\u2019ve been able to grow and expand my role a little bit. I have a lot of good chemistry with Tanner, Sean, Fraser, just whoever we\u2019re playing with. I\u2019m just trying to continue to build in the penalty kill and those areas of my game. It\u2019s just fun to continue to grow as a player. I still feel like I have a lot of ceiling left personally in all areas of my game and that\u2019s what excites me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kastelic, who turned 27 on Wednesday, has set career highs in goals (nine) and points (18). Hitting double digits in goals for the first time would surely be nice for him, but it\u2019s not a focus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try not to think about numbers too much. I\u2019d just rather get better every day and hopefully in the long run it will pay off,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to sell myself short in any area of my game and be able to work on things offensively and hope to get to an area where I feel I know I\u2019m capable of and done in the past. It comes with confidence and time and putting in the extra work, getting extra touches.\u201d<\/p>\n
While numbers don\u2019t motivate him, big moments like the one on Tuesday clearly do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be his birthday or it could be the OT. But they were telling me he was in an awesome mood.\u00a0I could tell after the game, he was like chest out,\u201d said Sturm with a wide grin. \u201cThese guys work so hard, the Jeannots, the Kuralys and they don\u2019t always show up on the scoresheet and that\u2019s why they sometimes get frustrated. But a moment like this (Tuesday), that helps. And good for Kasty.\u201d<\/p>\n
McAvoy OK<\/p>\n
The B\u2019s did not practice on Wednesday with only the scratches from Tuesday hitting the ice. Sturm said that McAvoy, who was scheduled for some dental work after losing some more teeth in the second period on Tuesday, was going to fine.<\/p>\n
Coming back to score the game-winner certainly resonated with his teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been pretty inspirational to see what he\u2019s gone through and just the adversity that he\u2019s faced and the resilience he\u2019s had. It hasn\u2019t been an easy year for him by any means,\u201d said Kastelic. \u201cI feel like everyone\u2019s trying to take pride in following his footsteps and hopefully his mouth\u2019s OK. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s probably hurting. I think that\u2019s got to be the worst thing, dental work, out of all the injuries, just for the pain it causes and the hassles. And just for him to continue to get back out there and win that game for us was just huge. We\u2019re all behind him in trying to play for each other here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bruins\u2019 overtime plan was the same as it always is. Mark Kastelic takes the opening faceoff, wins…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[530,2154,5,4188,6164,6296,4,2686,234,5318],"class_list":{"0":"post-498531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-kraken","8":"tag-bruins","9":"tag-charlie-mcavoy","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-kraken","12":"tag-marco-sturm","13":"tag-mark-kastelic","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-seattle","16":"tag-seattle-kraken","17":"tag-seattlekraken"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116212098973981321","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}