Bruins Lose Another F, Make Changes On D

Outside of injury-related changes, Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm has stuck with what’s worked over the life of their six-game win streak.

But the Black and Gold’s hunt for a seventh straight win will come with some tweaks on the backend, with Mason Lohrei projected to remain in Boston’s lineup, even with the return of Charlie McAvoy from a personal matter.

“Charlie’s back tonight,” Sturm confirmed following Tuesday’s morning skate. “So, I’m going with Mason and [Henri Jokiharju] as a third pair.”

Sturm’s decision to keep Lohrei in for a second straight appearance comes after what was a strong bounce-back performance in Toronto last weekend.

A healthy scratch for five straight games, Lohrei posted two assists, along with a plus-2 rating, one hit, one block, and a shot on goal. The Bruins also outshot Toronto by an 8-2 mark with Lohrei on the ice at five-on-five play.

It’s been a weird few weeks for Lohrei, all things considered. He’s recorded one goal and five assists over his last four games, but has a five-game scratching in the middle of the run. But it’s certainly worth noting that Lohrei’s last two multi-point efforts have come when separated from McAvoy.

“I thought Mason deserves to play, [and] he played good enough [last game],” Sturm offered. “Hopefully they can stabilize that third pair with those kind of minutes we need throughout the game.”

The Bruins have not thrown a Lohrei-Jokiharju pairing out there much at all in 2025-26, with the duo together for just 11:55 of time on ice, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. Over that nearly 12-minute sample, the Bruins have been out-chanced 11-3 and outshot 9-3, but do hold a 1-0 edge in goals. 

And with Lohrei staying in and McAvoy back, the Bruins will indeed scratch Jonathan Aspirot from the lineup for this contest. In action for six games since being called up from Providence, Aspirot has totaled 10 blocks and 14 hits, along with a plus-1 rating, with the Big B’s. Sturm also made it a point to say that removing Aspirot from the lineup had nothing to do with his play.

[Aspirot] did absolutely nothing wrong,” Sturm said. “I liked his game, and he will be back at one point. I just want to see those guys.” 

Injuries At Forward

Up front, however, it’s a different story, as the Bruins have lost Casey Mittelstadt to a lower-body injury that’ll be “week-to-week.”

“Week-to-week,” Sturm said of Mittelstadt, who appeared to suffer the injury in last Thursday’s win over the Senators, and his current timeline for a potential return to the lineup. “But I think he’s doing better than we expected, so hopefully we can get him on the ice as soon as possible.” 

As noted, Mittelstadt appeared to suffer the injury in last Thursday’s win over the Senators in a second-period collision with the Sens’ Jake Sanderson. There did appear to be some knee-on-knee contact on the hit, though Mittelstadt would return to the ice in the third period and finish the game.

Mittelstadt has recorded four goals and nine points, along with eight blocks and a 59 percent success rate at the face-off dot, in 15 games for the B’s this season. His loss also leaves the Bruins down two top-six forwards, as the club remains without top-line center Elias Lindholm, who is also considered week-to-week with a lower-body ailment of his own.

Sturm’s update on Mittelstadt came after the 26-year-old missed last Saturday’s game in Toronto, and after the club summoned Alex Steeves up from AHL Providence to skate in his place on Boston’s second line.

Steeves finished Saturday’s win with one shot and a plus-1 rating for the B’s, and came as advertised, according to Sturm.

“That’s what I pictured when we called [Steeves] up. That’s what I pictured what we need and what we [will] get out of him,” Sturm said after practice. “It doesn’t matter which line he’s on, he’s just playing the right way. Lot of energy, lot of details. He fit right in to our group, and that line.”