If we’ve come to learn one thing about these Bruins, it’s that they pride themselves in a response. And after an boo-inducing 6-2 loss to the Rangers on Black Friday, boy, did the Bruins need a response. The bonus was that the Bruins were given a quick turnaround at that crack, too, with a rare, home-ice back-to-back and a Saturday night head-to-head with the Red Wings.

And Marco Sturm’s club certainly made it count, as the Black and Gold outlasted the Red Wings for a 3-2 shootout victory at TD Garden.

Since taking that 7-2 loss to the Senators back on Oct. 27, the Bruins are now 5-1-0 after a loss. They’ve been some downright gritty wins, too, including the 3-2 final over the Canadiens in Montreal on Nov. 15, the 2-1 overtime win in LA back on Nov. 21, and Saturday’s shootout against the Wings. 

And perhaps most notably, this win came with the Bruins missing both their top forward and top defenseman, with David Pastrnak (lower-body injury) and Charlie McAvoy (facial surgery) out of action for the Black and Gold.

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

3rd Star: Mark Kastelic

Nov 29, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins center Mark Kastelic (47) lands a punch on Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) during the first period. (Winslow Townson/Imagn Images)

The Bruins really struggled to get to their game against the Rangers on Friday, and that went beyond just their losses. The Rangers seemed to play with a lot of tempo, and quick transitions out of their zone, and it really failed to let the Bruins get to their game of wearing the other team down with their physicality.

Saturday looked like it was going to be more of the same for the B’s. But a behind-the-net skirmish between Detroit’s Mo Seider and the Bruins’ Mark Kastelic eventually escalated to a fight (dominated by Kastelic) and really changed the tenor of this game. And in a positive manner for the B’s.

Following the Kastelic-Seider scrap, the Bruins really seemed to get to their identity in the second period, and were tenderizing the Detroit defense every single time they retrieved a puck behind their net. That even led to a brutal Ben Chiarot turnover that led to Boston’s first goal of the evening.

Elite bottom-sixers know what to do to shift momentum of a game, and Kastelic did exactly that on Saturday night, and finished this contest with five hits and wins in five of his eight faceoffs in over 15 minutes of action.

2nd Star: Morgan Geekie

Nov 29, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins center Morgan Geekie (39) is congratulated by teammates after scoring against the Red Wings at TD Garden.(Winslow Townson/Imagn Images)

Bruins winger Morgan Geekie refuses to let Nathan MacKinnon rest peacefully. MacKinnon ended his day with a two-goal lead over Geekie atop the NHL leaderboard… and ended his night back in a tie with Geekie.

On the board with another two goals, and scoring both of Boston’s goals in regulation, Geekie continued what’s been a downright ridiculous start to his season, with 20 goals through 27 games this season. That’s actually historic for the Bruins, too, with Geekie becoming the first Bruin to score at least 20 goals through his first 27 games of a season since David Pastrnak in 2019-20.

The last five guys to do it before Pastrnak? Cam Neely, Peter McNab, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, and Bronco Horvath. Not a bad crew, to say the least.

It’s now been over a calendar year of Geekie being one of the best goal scorers in the league, and he’s shown absolutely no signs of slowing down. And perhaps most notably for this team, he’s currently doing it without riding opposite to Pastrnak, putting some ‘merchant’ theories to bed for now.

1st Star: Jeremy Swayman

Nov 29, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Jeremy Swayman (1) celebrates after making the final save during their 3-2 shootout win over the Red Wings at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/Imagn Images)

Back in goal after a career-high 44 saves on Wednesday night on Long Island, Swayman was even more impressive Saturday night, this time with a 24-of-26 performance and stops on all three shootout attempts in a 3-2 victory.

Swayman even gave the Red Wings’ Patrick Kane — one of the most ‘automatic’ shootout threats in NHL history — the ol’ razzle-dazzle with a downright disgusting glove save on the veteran winger.

The dude was in his bag in this one.

And to be absolutely clear, the Bruins don’t get to overtime without Swayman and his poise in the third period. Yes, Swayman did allow both of Detroit’s goals in the third period, but the Bruins were way too loose for the entire third period, and allowed easy entries and high-danger looks throughout the frame. Still, Swayman finished his third period with 11 saves, and then stopped another four shots in overtime to get the Bruins to the shootout.

And since that loss in Ottawa, Swayman is 8-2-0 with a .934 save percentage and 2.06 goals against average. He’s on another planet right now.