The Bruins have already answered one early-season question on this trip: can they absorb a shaky start, shuffle the lineup and still close out a game? Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings said yes, and it pushed Boston’s winning streak to five straight.
Now comes the next exam. Boston heads to Dallas on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
ET to wrap up a four-game road trip that has already produced wins over all three California teams. For Marco Sturm, that final stop should reveal even more about how adaptable this group really is.
The Kings game offered a clear example of Boston’s flexibility. Pavel Zacha sat out with an upper-body injury he picked up against Anaheim, and Sturm had called him day to day before the matchup. With one of the team’s key centers unavailable, the Bruins had to rework the middle of the lineup on the fly.
Fraser Minten stepped into the first-line center spot, Matthew Poitras moved up to the second line, and Sean Kuraly dropped back into the fourth line for his first game since Oct. 3.
On a back-to-back away from home, that kind of reshuffling can easily throw a team off. Boston didn’t let it.
Poitras was right in the middle of the decisive moment, helping set up Marat Khusnutdinov’s go-ahead goal with 6:24 left in the third period. David Pastrnak had already tied the game, Jeremy Swayman stopped 25 shots, and Elias Lindholm and JJ Peterka scored empty-net goals to turn a tight third period into a much cleaner final margin.
The Bruins also got a strong shift from Jonathan Aspirot. Back in the lineup, the defenseman logged 17:58 of ice time and finished with five hits and three blocked shots. Nikita Zadorov was scratched, another sign that Sturm is not afraid to keep tweaking his combinations, even with the wins piling up.
Pastrnak remains the engine at the top of the attack, and Swayman’s consistency in goal keeps giving Boston a stable base. But the work from Poitras, Minten and the rest of the supporting cast may end up mattering just as much if the injury list keeps forcing changes.
Boston has already shown it can rally from an early deficit. The trip to Dallas will tell a different part of the story: whether the Bruins can keep their shape and keep winning even when the lineup isn’t the one Sturm had in mind.
In Other News...
Bruins Have A Nikita Zadorov Problem They Cant Ignore
Bostons strong start has come with a familiar trade-off on the blue line, and Nikita Zadorov sits right in the middle of it. The Bruins have long valued his size, edge and ability to disrupt opponents, because when hes on, he can change the tone of a game in ways few defensemen can. But the early-season picture has been more complicated, with his play drawing scrutiny for the kind of undisciplined mistakes that can undo a good night in a hurry.
The concern is not just the penalties themselves, but the broader impact they have had on Bostons five-on-five play. The Bruins can live with some risk if Zadorov is tilting the ice in their favor, yet there has been a growing sense that the balance has been off lately, enough to lead to disciplinary scratches and renewed questions about how much rope he should get. For a team trying to build on its strong start, the issue is no longer whether Zadorov matters, but whether the Bruins can keep tolerating the version of him they have been getting. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Turn To A Different Goalie In A Spot Fans Will Watch
The Bruins are giving Michael DiPietro another turn in goal against the Nashville Predators, a spot that comes after a demanding four-game road trip and a strong stretch away from home. Boston picked up seven of a possible eight points on that trip, and DiPietro will get the assignment after already logging two previous starts this season, including his first NHL win against the Anaheim Ducks.
For a team trying to keep the momentum going, the goalie decision adds a little extra intrigue to a home matchup that arrives right after the travel grind. Jeremy Swayman handled most of the work on the road, so this start gives Boston a different look in a game fans will be watching closely to see how the crease lines up moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Fast Start Is Starting To Feel Like Something Bigger
A West Coast trip can tell you a lot about a hockey team, and the Bruins came home looking every bit like a group that belongs in the conversation. Boston won three of four out west, swept through the three California stops and only missed a perfect trip by dropping an overtime decision to Dallas, a run that has already started to reshape how the rest of the league sees them.
The rankings bump followed quickly, with Boston climbing in both major national power lists, but the more interesting part is what comes next. The Bruins now get to bring that momentum back home for a stretch that includes Nashville and San Jose, a chance to see whether this fast start is merely a strong opening or the beginning of something sturdier. [Read more 🡒]