PROVIDENCE � David Pastrnak gave the fans what they were hoping for in his American Hockey League debut on Friday night.

PROVIDENCE � David Pastrnak gave the fans what they were hoping for in his American Hockey League debut on Friday night.

The flashy 18-year-old right wing set up both Providence Bruins goals � including Joe Morrow�s winner 56 seconds into overtime � in a 2-1 opening night victory over the St. John�s IceCaps in front of 10,524 fans at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

It was a dynamic first step for Pastrnak, the 2014 first-round draft pick who missed a good chunk of Boston�s training camp with a shoulder injury. His speed and offensive skills stood out, as did some of his deficiencies without the puck.

�There�s risk-reward there, clearly. The overtime kind of sums it up,�� said Providence coach Bruce Cassidy.

�They went right by him on a three-on-two where he kind of gave himself up. He�ll have to understand he�ll have to work to get back in situations if he gambles. Then the puck comes the other way and ends up in the net on a highlight reel play.��

Pastrnak made the pass for the winning goal from his knees after being knocked down by a defenseman.

�We went two against one and I tried to pass and it hit a skate and came back to me. I just hold the puck and I see behind me someone�s coming, I didn�t see who, so I just rolled it to him. I�m just happy we have the two points,�� he said.

Unofficially, Pastrnak played 16:21. He was credited with five shots. He was on the ice for all three goals in the game.

He started slowly. Wearing number 32, Pastrnak stepped on the ice for his first shift 55 seconds into the first period. His linemates were center Seth Griffith and left wing Matt Lindblad.

With 4:52 left in the first period, Pastrnak took a long pass from Lindblad and skated in on a breakaway. He went to his backhand, but former UMass Lowell star Connor Hellebuyck turned away his shot.

Early on, the 170-pound Czech took a couple of tough knocks from IceCaps players and went down. On a one-on-one against defenseman Will O�Neill, Pastrnak tried a fancy between-the-legs move and was knocked down easily by O�Neill. He took a massive hit from Julien Brouillette late the in the third period but quickly bounced back up.

�I�m not afraid to get hit, it�s part of hockey. If I would be afraid I can�t play,�� Pastrnak said.

He got better in the second period. At 1:53, he found a wide open Griffith in front of the net and put a perfect pass on his stick for Providence�s first goal of the season.

�The puck follows him. He�s dangerous in the open ice. Hey, he had two assists � the difference in the game. He can get away with some of that here and he will. He�ll have some rope. Hopefully as each game goes by we�ll tighten him up a little bit. The Bruins drafted him to be a dynamic player and we�ll work towards that,�� said Cassidy.

�Tomorrow we�ll go over some stuff, like better stick position and angles. He won�t be a guy who we�ll sit here and say you�ve got to finish every check. There are certain things in his game that he needs to do better. We�re not going to try to change his personality � make him a 170-pound player out there running around.��

Said Boston assistant general manager Don Sweeney, one of four members of the Bruins front office who attended the game: �He does a lot of things that you can�t teach. But there are a lot of things that we are going to have to teach.��