It turns out life is a little bit easier for Marco Sturm’s Bruins when they have their best forward and their best defenseman in their lineup. Who woulda thought!?

When the Bruins welcomed David Pastrnak back to their lineup this past Tuesday night, Sturm plugged his best winger into a third-line role, and the line dominated on the way to a big win over Jim Montgomery’s Blues. And on Thursday night, with Charlie McAvoy back in action for his first game in almost a month, the Bruins’ defense put together a dynamite showing with a 6-3 win over the Jets.

With the win, the Bruins improved to 10-2-0 on the year when they have all three of McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, and Nikita Zadorov in their lineup. When at least one those players is missing from the lineup, they are 9-11-0.

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

3rd Star: Elias Lindholm

Dec 11, 2025; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Elias Lindholm (28) scores on Winnipeg Jets goalie Eric Comrie (1) during the third period at Canada Life Centre. (Terrence Lee/Imagn Images)

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, Elias Lindholm‘s third-period goal was put on such a delicious plate for him that I’m convinced you or I could’ve scored it. But unlike us, Lindholm was actually out there on the ice for the Bruins, and he hammered it home for what was by all means the putaway goal in this one.

The marker was actually Lindholm’s first five-on-five goal of the season, and was his most notable headline of an all around solid night that also featured an assist, two blocks, and a plus-2 rating in 14:19 of time on ice.

2nd Star: Charlie McAvoy

Dec 11, 2025; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) skates away from Jets forward Kyle Connor (81) during the second period at Canada Life Centre. (Terrence Lee-Imagn Images)

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy still isn’t on the diet he would like. Speaking ahead of Boston’s flight out to St. Louis on Monday, McAvoy joked that he couldn’t wait to ‘combine’ pizza and a hamburger when asked what he’s most looking forward to eating once his jaw heals. But it was clear from the jump that McAvoy was indeed hungry for a dub in his first game action since Nov. 15 in Montreal.

Deployed for 24:16 in this contest, McAvoy finished with an assist, along with a team-leading 33 shifts and team-best plus-4 rating for the B’s. And the Bruins seemed to truly dominate whenever McAvoy was out there, as Boston outshot Winnipeg 11-5 and outscored them 3-0 with McAvoy out there at five-on-five play. With McAvoy on the bench, Boston was outshot 16-8 at five-on-five play.

1st Star: David Pastrnak

Dec 11, 2025; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Bruins forward David Pastrnak (88) is congratulated by his teammates on his goal against the Jets at Canada Life Centre. (Terrence Lee/Imagn Images)

Bruins superstar David Pastrnak is not at 100 percent just yet. But it’s clear he wants to play, and Sturm isn’t going to say no, especially when he’s putting up nights like he has the last two games. After putting up a three-assist night in St. Louis on Tuesday, Pastrnak moved up the Boston lineup Thursday night, and upped his own ante, this time with a two-goal, four-point outing in Winnipeg.

Pastrnak even made it a historic game, as he broke out of a tie with Rick Middleton and moved into sole possession of fifth place on the Bruins’ all-time goal list.

Next up on the list is Brad Marchand (422) and Patrice Bergeron (427), which feels more than attainable for Pastrnak this season given the run he’s been on.

Honestly, it’s just ridiculous.