The Boston Bruins’ road trip ended with points in hand, but the finish in Dallas left plenty to chew on.
Boston had a chance to sweep a four-game Western swing against quality opponents on Tuesday night, and for a while it looked like the young core might carry the day. James Hagens and Matthew Poitras each scored to give the Bruins leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but the Stars answered every time. Mikko Rantanen scored twice in regulation, then finished off his hat trick in overtime to give Dallas a 3-2 win.
The loss snapped Boston’s five-game winning streak, though the Bruins still banked seven of eight points on the trip. For Marco Sturm, that kind of return would have been easy to accept heading into the final leg of a long stretch away from home. Thursday night brings the first game back at home against the Nashville Predators.
Still, the way Sturm managed the end of regulation and overtime stood out. Hagens and Poitras did not play during the final five minutes of the third period, and neither saw the ice in overtime. Young defensemen Frederic Brunet and Mason Lohrei were also held out.
Afterward, Sturm pointed to the learning curve for the younger players.
“It’s a good thing. Again, they still need to learn,” Sturm said, per the Boston Bruins YouTube page.
“You could see it when you play a team like Dallas today, a lot of veterans, and it’s kind of like a little bit more of a playoff atmosphere. You could tell they made a little bit more mistakes than some other games.
But it’s healthy, though. It’s going to help them moving forward.”
The move came at a strange time, though. Hagens and Poitras had been part of Boston’s scoring, yet they were taken out of the late-game mix while the Bruins chased at least one point. The bench shortened even more as the third period wore on, and by the end Boston looked spent.
The numbers backed that up. The Bruins did not get a shot on goal over the final 13 minutes of regulation or overtime.
Learning, as Sturm noted, is part of the path for young players. But against Dallas, the Bruins seemed to be fighting for results first and lessons second. And with tired legs and a blank final stretch offensively, fresh young minutes might have made a difference.
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