The Bruins are back at TD Garden on Thursday night, and they’ll do it with a familiar-looking lineup as they open a two-game home stretch against the Nashville Predators.
Boston returns from a four-game road trip that brought in seven of a possible eight points, and head coach Marco Sturm said the focus now is on carrying that edge back home. He said the team showed “a really good jump today” and added, “We addressed it,” before stressing the mental side of the reset.
“So, whatever it takes, I think we’ve just got to find a way. It’s going to be between your ears; it’s going to be a mind game.
We’ve just got to make sure we’re prepared and get excited to be home again.”
Sturm said the only change will be in goal. Everyone else stays put, which means Marat Khusnutdinov remains on the second line with Fraser Minten and Morgan Geekie. That alignment comes on the same day Khusnutdinov signed a three-year extension with the Bruins.
The 24-year-old made it clear how much the deal means to him. “I am very excited to be a Bruin for three more years.
For me, it’s the best group and best fans and best city,” Khusnutdinov said. “I like everything.
I like PK, 5-on-5…I’m just really excited to help my team win the game.”
Geekie, who has seen Khusnutdinov’s game up close, had plenty of praise for the forward’s nonstop style. “He’s just like a little waterbug, man,” Geekie said.
“He just seems to never get tired, and he’s just a hound on pucks. He seems to find himself in the right spots all the time; he’s very responsible and brings a lot of energy.
He’s able to turn pucks over - I think you see that on the penalty kill a lot, just how smart he is. I don’t think he gets credit for how good he is offensively, too.
I think you’ve seen him, since he came in, grow into his own.”
Khusnutdinov’s production has already backed that up. Last season, the Moscow native posted a career-high 33 points with 15 goals and 18 assists in 77 games, while bouncing around the lineup. This year, he has five points - two goals and three assists - in 10 games, and now looks set in a top-six role.
Sturm said Khusnutdinov’s impact goes beyond the stat line. “First of all, he’s such a good kid.
I think he’s very well-liked in the room. For me, as a coach, give him a lot of credit - he works extremely hard, and he’s doing a lot of good things,” Sturm said.
“In the minors, the guys who got called up, I called them my kids. I was just happy to see.
It’s different now here. I feel like he started with me last year - a guy like him, Mints and all those guys - and now having big contracts gets me excited, too.
I am very happy for him and his family.”
And yes, his family was thrilled too. Khusnutdinov said their reaction was simple: “Like, ‘Congrats kid,’” he said.
“I want to tell my family, too, thanks. My mother and my sisters and my father - it’s great work [by them], too.
I feel the support every time, always.”
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