The Boston Bruins, at one point losers of six straight, are back to .500. Of course, first-year Bruins head coach Marco Sturm has greater ambitions for his club than a mere .500 record. But there’s no complaining about winning and drawing back even, especially given how dire things looked just a week ago.
“That was really good,” Sturm, whose team is now 7-7-0 on the year, said following the 2-1 win over the Hurricanes. “We needed to play that way against a team like that. We wanted to have a good start [and] we wanted to slow them down.”
The identity the Bruins want
To Sturm’s point, this absolutely felt like the version of the Bruins that they want to be (and perhaps have to be) to have success in 2025-26. The checking was fantastic, the defense was tight, and when all else failed, the goaltending was there to save the day or just slow things down.
And about the goaltending…
On Thursday night, the Bruins’ $8.25 million man, Jeremy Swayman, found himself benched for the second straight game. It was the first time that had happened to Swayman since the team traded Linus Ullmark in 2024. Whether it was the Bruins simply riding the hot-handed Joonas Korpisalo or trying to push Swayman’s buttons a little bit, only Sturm can answer.
But if it was the latter, it certainly seemed to work, as Swayman turned in a strong 28-of-29 performance in the victory.
“Every day is motivating when you’re losing,” Swayman said after the win. “And not getting the results you want, it’s a huge motivator. And when you’re winning it’s the same thing, you’re addicted to winning.”
With the Bruins struggling to find their footing offensively early, Swayman had to be strong out of the gate (and was), with a point-blank save on Jackson Blake coming as the highlight of his opening frame. Swayman remained perfect in the second frame, too, with stops on all nine shots faced.
Overall, it took a 6-on-5 for Carolina to beat Swayman in this game, while the 26-year-old stopped all five high-danger shots faced (per NaturalStatTrick).
“I know what I need to do to help this team win games,” said Swayman.
Beecher returns
With Elias Lindholm out for ‘at least a few weeks’ due to a lower-body injury, Johnny Beecher drew back into the Boston lineup for his first appearance since Oct. 25 against the Avs. The B’s kept the same lineup on the backend, however, which left Mason Lohrei as the odd man out for the third straight game as the Bruins look to wake him up.
“He should be pissed,” Sturm, who pressed a similar button with Casey Mittelstadt earlier this year, said when asked about Lohrei ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the Hurricanes. “He should be very pissed. Should be upset.”
Sturm’s decision to scratch Lohrei came following what was an ugly outing in Ottawa on Monday, with the Bruins outshot 10-7 at five-on-five play with Lohrei on the ice. In addition to the shot differentials, the Bruins were also out-chanced 13-8, while high-danger chances favored the Sens by a 6-2 clip, during Lohrei’s 18 minutes and 10 seconds of five-on-five action.
Unpleasant development for the Bruins
It was just the latest setback for the B’s top pairing of Lohrei and Charlie McAvoy, which has not been the strength the club originally envisioned it being for the club. That pairing has surrendered 10 goals and 33 high-danger scoring chances in just over 120 minutes of five-on-five time together this year.
But with one goal and six points through 11 games this season, and with the Bruins stressing their defensive-zone play as a ‘must’ for their team to succeed in 2025-26, it’s clear that Sturm & Co. are trying to push Lohrei.
“That’s the goal: Having him out there and be a little bit different when he comes back,” Sturm admitted. “Watching from upstairs, watching some other players and what they do well and what they do wrong. It’s a learning process for him right now, and that’s why we do it.”
The Bruins will return to action Tuesday night against the Islanders.
