Boston Bruins
“I’m here to protect my guys, especially Charlie. And if you target his head, which was clear to see, that just pisses me off.”
Marco Sturm wasn’t thrilled with Wednesday’s officials in Florida. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
February 5, 2026 | 6:36 AM
2 minutes to read
Charlie McAvoy managed to finish Wednesday’s eventual 5-4 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, which was a victory in and of itself.
After all, it was looking like the Bruins defenseman’s availability for the upcoming Winter Olympics was going to be in jeopardy after taking a high and late hit from Florida fourth liner Sandis Vilmanis.
The incident occurred in the first period of Wednesday’s game, with Vilmanis leaving his skates and elbowing McAvoy in the head — dropping him to the ice. McAvoy left the ice with some assistance and did not return to the ice for the rest of the first period.
It was a brutal break for the Bruins, whose strong play since the start of 2026 can partly be traced to McAvoy playing his best hockey of the season.
To add insult to injury, Vilmanis’ high hit didn’t give Boston an opportunity to settle the score via an extended power play. Rather, the Bruins actually emerged from that fracas on the penalty kill.
Vilmanis was only called for a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head on that play, with Jonathan Aspirot — McAvoy’s partner — called for roughing after going after Vilmanis.
A 4-on-4 stretch was already going to be a bad break for Boston. It turned into a Panthers power play after an irate Bruins bench — steamed over the lack of a five-minute major penalty assessed against Vilmanis— was whistled by referee TJ Luxmore for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
While Sturm apparently gave Luxmore an earful from the bench, he wasn’t done as he fielded questions from the media after the loss.
“It was a brutal hit,” Sturm said. “And everyone saw it. Obviously, I have the opportunity to look at the replay, too, and to come out with a four-on-four like that. I just didn’t understand it. That’s all.
“I’m here to protect my guys, especially Charlie,” he added. “And if you target his head, which was clear to see, that just pisses me off.”
While Vilmanis didn’t not return for the rest of the game after landing that hit on McAvoy, the Bruins did exact a pound of flesh later in the period — with Tanner Jeannot delivering a few right hooks against former Bruin A.J. Greer in a spirited bout.
“I’d be lying if I said we weren’t pissed off,” Casey Mittelstadt said postgame. “I’m not going to make a judgment call on what happened. I haven’t seen it enough. Obviously, Geno steps up with a big fight there and kind of gets us going. With Charlie, you never want to see that. He’s Charlie McAvoy. He’s our best D-man and a huge part of this team. We were worried, for sure.”
The Bruins did get some good news at the start of the second, as McAvoy did return to the ice and still logged 22:05 of ice time en route to a one-point result.
“He’s a warrior,” David Pastrnak said of McAvoy. “Obviously, he’s been through a lot. So we were really happy we came back.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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