If you’re a glass half full person, the Bruins starting the year at 3-2-0 and with both losses coming as one-goal finals is an undeniable positive. Even if you are not a glass half-full person, it’s probably at the very least better than you thought the Bruins would begin their 2025-26 season after a rather uneventful offseason.
But there’s only so much optimism and ‘moral victories’ one can take without results, and the Bruins should be at that limit after two straight losses that’ve highlighted some of the Bruins’ worst qualities and weaknesses.
“For me, it’s a mindset going in,” a frustrated Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said following Thursday’s 6-5 loss to the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. “Do you want to play a 1-0 game or do you want to play that open game? We’ve done it now two or three games in a row. We got lucky once because of goaltending, but other than that, that’s not us. That’s not us. I don’t want to play that game. I’m a defensive mindset coach, I would say, and it starts from there.”
Unfortunately for Sturm, though, it will not get any easier for his club Saturday night when they go head-to-head with the Avalanche.
The Avalanche come into play with a West-best 4-0-1 record on the year, and on the heels of a 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Thursday night. Powered by the dynamic duo of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, the Avs have also received a significant boost from their shorthanded goaltending group, with Scott Wedgewood’s .939 save percentage and in goal for all five of Colorado’s games to date with Mackenzie Blackwood on the mend.
The B’s do have some recent history on their side in this one, though, with three straight wins over the Avalanche, and with an eight-game point streak (6-0-2) against Colorado dating back to 2022.
Here’s a look at five players to keep an eye on tonight out in Denver…
David Pastrnak
Sep 29, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) takes the puck up the ice during the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden. (Eric Canha-Imagn Images)
Let’s be honest, David Pastrnak is a player to watch in every game for the Bruins. Hell, some nights, he’s the only player to watch. Just ask the 2024-25 Bruins. But when it comes to tonight’s game, there’s a few reasons to highlight Pastrnak.
For one, the Bruins are on a losing skid and you always turn to your best players to help lead you out of that. Pastrnak was especially vocal about his line’s inability to get things going on Thursday night, and given the kind of player he is and wants to be for this team as a leader, you naturally expect an extra step in his jump tonight.
But secondly, and perhaps more notably, Pastrnak does come into this head-to-head with some excellent numbers against the Avs in his career. Finishing last season with two goals and four points in two games against Colorado, Pastrnak has posted 14 goals and 22 points in 18 career games against the Avs.
Mikey Eyssimont
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 08: Michael Eyssimont #81 of the Bruins skates against the Washington Capitals during the first period at Capital One Arena on October 8, 2025. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Growing up about 20 minutes away outside of Denver, Saturday’s game isn’t just coming with a return back home for Mikey Eyssimont, but also a promotion up the Boston lineup. Skating on Boston’s third for the first five games of the season, Saturday’s morning skate at Ball Arena has come with a move up to the second line for Eyssimont, with the gritty wing skating on a line with Morgan Geekie and Casey Mittelstadt, according to the Bruins’ Belle Fraser.
Eyssimont is coming off a one-goal and two-point outing against the Golden Knights on Thursday, and has three points through his first five games in a Bruins sweater. Any line with Mittelstadt (a former Av, if that means anything to you ‘revenge game’ people) is going to get more offensive-zone run, and pairing Eyssimont opposite Geekie could bring some interesting net-front chances for Eyssimont. That’s where Wedgewood has given up the majority of his goals this season, too, which could certainly be of note in this one.
Eyssimont has one goal and two points in five career games against his hometown Avalanche, but has not recorded a point in two games in Colorado’s barn.
Pavel Zacha
Oct 16, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) warms up before a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)
With five points through five games, Pavel Zacha has done his part to provide the secondary offense that the Bruins desperately need out of this year’s roster.
But the Bruins are looking for primary scoring help out of Zacha in this one, with Zacha expected to skate to the left of Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak on the Black and Gold’s top line for this head-to-head with the Avs.
The Bruins put this line together when chasing their deficit late in Thursday’s loss to the Golden Knights, and though they didn’t score or generate much of note, Sturm did see enough to keep them together for this one. If you remember, the Bruins tried this line out of the gate a year ago, and it never quite seemed to thrive the way they wanted it to. On the ice for over 83 minutes of five-on-five action last season, the Zacha-Lindholm-Pastrnak line finished the year with a mild 40-36 shot advantage and 2-1 scoring edge. Of course, it’s worth noting that neither Lindholm nor Pastrnak were at their best when the Bruins tried to make this trio work.
Zacha has four assists in six games against the Avalanche since joining the Bruins in 2022, and has nine points in 15 career games against Colorado.
Martin Necas
Oct 11, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Martin Necas (88) celebrates after his goal in the second period against the Dallas Stars at Ball Arena. (Isaiah J. Downing/Imagn Images)
The Bruins had some obvious problems with the speed and skill of the Golden Knights and how Vegas could turn even the slightest miscue into offense the other way. The Avs’ Martin Necas is not only a player who can present similar problems to the Bruins, but someone whose game is absolutely on fire right now.
Skating to the right of MacKinnon on Colorado’s top line, Necas has posted three goals and nine points through the first five games of the 2025-26 season, and has been able to record a point in all five outings to date. And in addition to the production, opponents have yet to score a five-on-five goal in almost 59 minutes of the Avs’ Artturi Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Necas line out there.
Necas has been successful against the Bruins in his career, too, with two goals and eight points in 10 career games against Boston.
Sam Malinski
Oct 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski (70) warms up prior to the game against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Imagn Images)
When talking about the Colorado backend, it obviously begins and ends with the superhuman Cale Makar atop the right-side depth chart. But the supporting cast behind Makar has done their part (and then some) out of the gate.
One rather unheralded name on that front? Sam Malinski.
A 5-foot-11, 190-pound defender skating on the Avalanche’s third pair, Malinski enters tonight’s contest with one goal and three points through five games, and played a season-high 16:39 in his last outing. And Malinski has shown signs of becoming a true third-pairing dynamo that frustrates the hell out of opponents. When he’s on the ice, the Avalanche have had heavy control of the shot attempts and scoring chances, with Malinski’s differential rates among the best in the NHL.
Malinski also has some success against the Bruins in his 104-game NHL career, too, with a goal, an assist, and seven shots in four showdowns with the B’s.