BOSTON – Marco Sturm took a pregame nap, woke up, and made a decision that turned January at TD Garden into a perfect month for the Bruins.
The Boston Bruins (32-20-3) picked up a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers (24-20-9) on Thursday night at the TD Garden. Six different goal scorers and 33 saves from their goaltender carried the Bruins, along with two second-line forwards who each posted three-point nights.
The Bruins round out January with an 11-2-1 record and a perfect 9-0-0 on the Garden ice.
“It’s very impressive the way we played in January,” said Marco Sturm after the game. “It’s a tough month. Always been. It’s a grind after Christmas to come back. The way we played, too, I thought it was really, really good; very consistent, very hard, structured. Our best players were our best players: David was outstanding, goalies were back to business. A lot of good things happened and especially at home. We feel very comfortable at home.”
The Bruins got goals from Viktor Arvidsson, Pavel Zacha, Fraser Minten, Casey Mittelstadt, Tanner Jeannot, and an empty-net goal from Marat Khusnutdinov. Minten and Mittelstadt added two assists each.
At the Bruins morning skate, Fraser Minten played alongside David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie on the first line. However, when the Bruins took rushes during warmups, Pavel Zacha centered the two scoring wingers.
“Coming into the rink today, and also talking to David (Pastrnak) this morning, and throwing out some different ideas,” said Sturm about moving Zacha up. “Then yeah, after I had my nap, I decided to put [Zacha] there. It worked out for both lines, but I thought it would be the best one for a game like today for David.”
The move certainly paid off for the second line. Although the line has remained intact for most of the season, injuries aside, it did not on Thursday. It worked out, as Sturm mentioned. Minten and Mittelstadt each had three points, and Viktor Arvidsson had a goal. The line had chemistry from the jump.
“I think those guys, they’ve both been around long enough that they can play the game the right way, make plays,” Minten said about playing with his linemates. “I think I can slot in between guys like that.”
“He fit right in, it felt very comfortable,” Casey Mittelstadt said. “I said in between periods, he’s pretty similar to [Zacha], so it didn’t feel too much different.”
The move also helped continue Fraser Minten’s tear. In the last 15 games, Minten has 16 points (8-8–16), which is the third-most on the team in that span. He sits behind only David Pastrnak (7-21–28) and Charlie McAvoy (3-14–17).
“I’m just very, very happy the way he’s been playing all year long,” Sturm said about Minten. “I’ve put him in different situations, from fourth line to pretty much first line. He can do it all. It’s just the consistent part of being a 21-year-old, that’s always the challenging part of it. Yeah, he definitely has something that a lot of players don’t have.”
So, does he see himself as a top-six forward down the line?
“I just want to play in the NHL. Play me wherever, I don’t care.”
Arvidsson’s goal opened the scoring, and the first-line center, Pavel Zacha, scored the second one. Additionally, it was only 41 seconds that separated the goals.
Then the Bruins added three more goals in the second period. The game looked different from the previous two this week, both in effort and because the Bruins carried a three-goal lead into the third period, not one.
“We weren’t happy with the last two games there. Ended up in overtime with a lead going into the third,” said Tanner Jeannot. “We just want to grow as a group and close those games out better and got the job done tonight.”
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At five-on-five, the Bruins held control of this game. None of the six goals came on the man-advantage; one of the Flyers’ tallies did. The Bruins generated 50 shot attempts to the Flyers’ 43; factor in the power play, and the team wearing white generated more (57-55).
Marco Sturm mentioned that the “goalies were back to business.” Jeremy Swayman backstopped the team with another strong performance, making 33 saves; eight of them coming on high-danger shots.
Also, Bruins prospect Matt Poitras made his season debut on Thursday, starting his third year in the NHL. The game was his 67th career game; he has made the team out of training camp every season before this one. Ahead of the game, Marco Sturm said he wanted Poitras “to be himself.”
“He should’ve scored early on, I think that would have helped him a little bit,” Sturm said about Poitras after the game. “He was okay. We played a physical team over there, with Philly coming in. He did okay. Again, he had some good chances early on, so I didn’t mind his game.”
Poitras played in 15 shifts, skating for 11:28. Although that was the second-lowest time on ice for a Bruin on Thursday, he had the most shots in a black and gold sweater (5).
The Bruins still have two games to play before the Olympic break, and the entire team, along with Sturm, let the media know that their focus is on those two games.
The first comes on Sunday night from Tampa, Florida, at Raymond James Stadium. The Bruins are set for an outdoor game against the Lightning (34-14-4), and the forecast shows that the temperature might be cooler than the warming tent that is set up.