Boston Bruins
“They were our best defensive line yesterday, I thought.”
James Hagens and the Bruins’ rookie third line held their own in Buffalo on Sunday. AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes
As the decibel level soared higher and higher at KeyBank Center on Sunday evening, Marco Sturm turned to an unlikely trio in hopes of stemming the tide.
Amid Buffalo’s four-goal salvo in under seven minutes of ice time in Game 1, Boston’s head coach twice rolled out Fraser Minten’s line as the next forward grouping up after a Sabres tally to try and dull the momentum in enemy territory.
It was an interesting move from Sturm, considering that Boston’s third line features three forwards with an average age of just 21 years old — and zero postseason appearances under their belt before Game 1 against Buffalo.
Fresh off of Boston’s painful loss to the Sabres, Sturm was asked Monday morning why he regularly went to his line of Minten, James Hagens, and Marat Khusnutdinov after Buffalo lit the lamp.
“They were our best defensive line yesterday, I thought,” Sturm said Monday of the Minten line. “Never really got in trouble, played very solid. Can we hopefully get some offense down the stretch? Yeah, hope so. But defensively, they were our best, reliable line out there. So that’s why they were out there.”
It was an encouraging seal of approval from a trio of green skaters who will have to play a key role if Boston wants to right the ship and get back into this best-of-seven series.
On a night where the Sabres held the overwhelming advantage in both shots on goal (38-20) and hits (53-38), the underlying numbers don’t exactly flatter any of Boston’s lines — even a third line that operates with plenty of pace in Minten, Hagens, and Khusnutdinov.
In that line’s 9:27 of 5-on-5 ice time, the Bruins were outshot, 6-2. But, Buffalo only generated one high-danger scoring chance during that extended stretch — and more importantly, didn’t fire a puck past Jeremy Swayman when the Minten line was out on the ice.
It was a solid showing from Boston’s crop of younger skaters, especially given the fact that their playoff debut was in the midst of a din of cheers and jeers in Buffalo.
Beyond that, Minten and Co. were able to avoid putting themselves in danger despite only having two offensive-zone faceoffs throughout that 9:27 of 5-on-5 ice time.
While Boston’s “kid line” at least held its own against Buffalo, other segments of Boston’s forward corps took on water.
The Bruins’ second line of Pavel Zacha, Viktor Arvidsson, and Casey Mittelstadt were outscored, 2-0, in just 9:09 of 5-on-5 reps.
And, while Boston’s first line of David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, and Elias Lindholm generated two goals, Buffalo still scored a goal of its own and held an 18-8 edge in shot attempts during the Lindholm line’s 12:43 of 5-on-5 reps.
A disjointed game littered with poor power play reps for both clubs hindered Sturm’s ability to carve out extended 5-on-5 shifts for his younger skaters.
However, both Khusnutdinov and Minten logged more than two minutes of shorthanded ice time in Game 1 — taking away passing lanes, clogging up the middle of the ice, and frustrating a Buffalo power play that went 0-for-4 on Monday night.
“I think he’s there for a reason,” Sean Kuraly said of Minten’s dogged play in shorthanded opportunities. “He can do the job, and we’ve seen it all year. So we don’t even look at him like that [as a rookie] anymore. We’re expecting him to play an important role on this team, and he has. We’re lucky to have him.”
The next order of business for Sturm — beyond flushing Sunday’s setback — is to prescribe more shifts for Hagens, whose speed and playmaking capabilities could loom large in such a tight series.
The 19-year-old forward — playing in just his third game in the NHL ranks — generated a quality look off the rush shortly after Tage Thompson made it a one-goal game in the third on Sunday.
Hagens’ skating ability and creativity could also be a welcome sight on Boston’s uneven power play. He didn’t touch the ice during the Bruins’ three bids on the man advantage in Game 1, due in large part to Sturm keeping the PP1 unit out on the sheet for most of those O-zone stretches.
The Bruins will welcome any sort of steady defensive play from their youngsters — especially against a Buffalo club that can dole out damage regardless of what line coach Lindy Ruff turns to.
As the Bruins look to pick up the pieces from Sunday’s loss, the play of three rookie forwards was far from the reason that Boston let a two-goal lead disintegrate against Buffalo.
That’s a promising sign for Boston’s future — albeit a worrying indictment on the rest of the Bruins’ roster as this series moves forward.
“I feel better. And I think these guys will feel better too after watching [tape],” Sturm said Monday. “Again, it’s a long series. We’re ready for a long series. We want to play a long series. That means yesterday was yesterday. Today is today.
“It’s actually sunny here in Buffalo. So you;ve got to enjoy that and then regroup, recharge and go back at it tomorrow. Because I liked our attitude. We were ready to go. [Swayman] was in the zone. Guys were ready to go. So we need that same intensity again tomorrow.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
