The B’s depth on the blue line has been one of their strengths this season. They’ve got eight healthy, competitive defensemen who are pushing for playing time. Brunet has embraced the challenge as an opportunity for growth.
“It’s hard because every single one of us is a great player. I think just working together, we can learn from each other,” Brunet said. “It is awesome for me personally, my first year, having all those guys in front of me just to learn from all of them. Especially some high-end talent on the backend for us. We’re lucky to have all of them. I think it’s a good problem to have eight great defensemen.”
In the forward group, Matt Poitras was back on the ice for Wednesday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, wearing a full bubble shield. The 22-year-old center took an elbow to the face from Vegas Golden Knights forward Braeden Bowman on Monday and did not finish the game, nor skate with the team on Tuesday. Poitras said he broke his nose, which is a first for him.
“It’s new. Never worn [a bubble shield] before, so it’s different. Will probably just take a few skates to get used to it…It’s different when you’re kind of looking down, and it’s all visor,” Poitras said. “It’s better. I got my nose reset, and I can breathe out of it again. But mostly just breathe through my mouth.”
Poitras will travel with the Bruins to Pittsburgh for their 7 p.m. matchup against the Penguins on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena. The training staff will continue to monitor his condition leading up to puck drop.
“We will see. He stayed out there for the whole practice, so I guess it’s a good thing,” Sturm said of Poitras. “We will see how it is tomorrow, and we will go from there.”