BOSTON — With the Bruins and Canucks going toe-to-toe in a shootout, Marco Sturm’s first three shooters were conventional.
Boston first chose Casey Mittelstadt, then David Pastrnak, and third Marat Khusnutdinov. All three Bruins forwards boast high-end skills and seem tailored to the shootout.
But with things still knotted after three rounds, Sturm surprised with his fourth selection: Andrew Peeke, who’d never participated in a shootout before.
The stay-at-home defenseman had scored earlier in the game, though it wasn’t a highlight reel goal. Peeke scored on a bad angle shot that clanged off a post then goalie Kevin Lankinen’s back, and found its way into the net.
The gamble didn’t pay off, as Lankinen saved Peeke’s wrist shot and the Canucks went on to win the shootout in the seventh round. After the 5-4 loss, Sturm explained why he chose Peeke before players like Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie.
“We practice all the time,” Strum said. “He does one move and he did it really well. Not just once, a few times. I thought he was going to do it again, and he didn’t. So that’s why I picked him. So that’s on me.”