On one hand, Marco Sturm and the Bruins can hang their hat on going toe-to-toe with the high-octane, rush-you-out-of-the-building Golden Knights offense on Thursday night. Especially in their absolutely deafening building.

But on the other, the Bruins realize that the 6-5 final at T-Mobile Arena is not the kind of game that the Bruins want to play in 2025-26 with any sort of regularity. At least if they’re to play with the structure they’ll need to be successful.

After trading goals in the first period of play, the Bruins let things slip out of control with three goals against in the second period, all of which looking easier than the one that came before, and were once again in a position where they had to come through with a desperate push to keep things close.

And though the Bruins ultimately did with a pair of third-period tallies from their bottom six, the B’s once again proved to not have the offensive horses that their opponents do, and took a one-goal loss for the second game in a row.

Here’s a look at the 985TheSportsHub.com 3 Stars of the game…

3rd Star: Mark Kastelic

Oct 16, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Bruins center Mark Kastelic (47) celebrates with forward Sean Kuraly (52) after scoring a goal against the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. (Stephen R. Sylvanie/Imagn Images)

There’s honestly no shortage of bottom-six Bruins to highlight in this contest. But if there’s a player who stood out above the rest at the bottom of the Boston roster on Thursday night, it was Mark Kastelic. Starting hot for the second straight season, Kastelic turned in yet another admirable performance Thursday, this time with a goal and a plus-2 rating in 13:22 of time on ice.

In addition to the goal, Kastelic also recorded four blocked shots, dished out three hits, and won five of his eight battles at the dot. The latter is noteworthy considering Vegas entered play as the second-best team in the league when it comes winning draws, and especially with Kastelic winning three of his five defensive-zone draws, including a win against Knights star Jack Eichel.

2nd Star: Pavel Dorofeyev

Oct 16, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Bruins at T-Mobile Arena. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)

At this point, the Vegas coaching staff must be drooling when they see the Bruins on their schedule and Pavel Dorofeyev up and ready to go. Lined up against Boston for just the fourth time in his career Thursday night, Dorofeyev came through with yet another multi-point effort, this time with a goal and an assist.

That two-point outing brings the Russian-born wing’s career line against Boston up to five goals and six points in just four career head-to-head meetings. To be honest, given all the talent elsewhere on this roster, having a player like Dorofeyev almost hiding in the Vegas lineup feels like a damn cheat code.

1st Star: William Karlsson

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 16: William Karlsson #71 of the Golden Knights is congratulated by teammates after scoring against Bruins at T-Mobile Arena. (Steve Marcus/Getty Images)

Ex-Bruins coach and current Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy was big on “timely saves.” He was the kind of coach who wouldn’t lose his mind about a 17-of-20 performance in goal so long as you made the timely saves. Well, how about timely goals? Because that’s exactly what William Karlsson brought to the table for the Knights in their win over the Bruins on Thursday night.

With the Bruins set to escape a disastrous second period on a high note after surviving a lengthy 5-on-3 and 5-on-4, Karlsson struck for a shorthanded goal that completely changed the tenor of the period that was. And if that wasn’t enough, it was Karlsson who pounced the Bruins’ aggressiveness on the penalty kill early in the third period and pushed the Vegas lead to three. Those goals proved to be huge ones for Vegas given the Boston push that followed.