Boston Bruins
“When you have 900 games in this league and 14 years, you don’t want to be in this situation and you feel disappointed, you feel disgusted about it.”
Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov is looking to turn the page after getting scratched ahead of Saturday’s road game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Speaking to Jim McBride of The Boston Globe on Tuesday in Dallas, Zadorov shared his thoughts on sitting out Saturday’s game — a day after taking three penalties in Friday’s 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks.
“Obviously, when you have 900 games in this league and 14 years, you don’t want to be in this situation and you feel disappointed, you feel disgusted about it,” Zadorov told McBride. “But at the end of the day, it’s a business, so you’ve just got to move on.”
Sturm noted ahead of Saturday’s eventual 4-1 win over the Kings that Zadorov’s discipline drove the surprise scratch. The 31-year-old had played in 170 of his 173 possible games since signing with Boston in July 2024.
“Z’s a tremendous player and leader for our team. I think we’ve been mentioning for a while his discipline on the ice,” Sturm told reporters in Los Angeles before Saturday’s game. “That’s something that just needs to be better.
“He was not happy. But he’s a great human being and he’s a competitor. I do believe he’ll become stronger after this message, be back to normal and be even better after that.”
During Friday’s win in Anaheim, Zadorov drew an ill-timed double-minor penalty in the final minute of the second period.
After initially getting whistled for an elbowing against Anaheim forward Frank Vatrano, Zadorov seemed to take umbrage with some embellishment on Vatrano’s part — immediately shoving him back to the ice, which drew an additional roughing penalty.
The Bruins ultimately killed off Zadorov’s extended time in the sin bin during the second and third periods. Still, the timing of those infractions — with Boston trailing 2-1 at the end of the second — drew the ire of Sturm.
Even after sitting out Saturday’s game, Zadorov skated on a fourth D pairing next to Connor Clifton during Monday’s practice in Dallas.
However, Sturm said the team hasn’t decided on Boston’s starting lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Stars.
“[Monday’s] lines don’t mean anything for [Tuesday]. We’ll see. We’ll talk about it [and] sleep through it,” Sturm said. “[Zadorov’s] good. He’s a competitor. He wants to be on the ice all the time. He wants to help the team. I know that. And I really believe he’s going to be even better when he comes back. So, I’m pretty confident that he will do that.”
Zadorov’s physical play has often led to penalties over the course of his career, with the 6-foot-7, 244-pound defenseman leading the league in penalty minutes in each of his first two seasons with Boston.
Speaking to McBride, Zadorov said he has no regrets over his playing style.
“Listen, we are Boston Bruins and we play that brand of hockey, and I’m fitting this brand really well. And I believe it fits me pretty well, as well,” Zadorov said. “And I’ve been playing my whole life that way. I’m a big, physical D. I’m an emotional person on and off the ice, and I’m emotionally invested on and off the ice. So, when I go out there, I will die for any of my teammates and this logo that’s on my chest. That’s what I play for, I play for the pride. So, when I go out there, I’ll leave everything on the ice.
“Sometimes emotions can get ahead of you. It happens. But at the end of the day, that’s why they brought me here, to play that brand of hockey.”
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
