Boston Bruins
“I just need to find a way to keep creating and not get frustrated with it.”
Marco Sturm and the Bruins have their work cut out for them when it comes to getting this offense back on track. John Tlumacki/Boston Globe
October 8, 2026 | 7:30 AM
3 minutes to read
After tallying just two goals in their last two games, Marco Sturm and the Bruins are switching things up.
Boston’s forward corps was overhauled during Wednesday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, with the Bruins’ first three lines rearranged.
Pavel Zacha was promoted to Boston’s top line next to David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie — while Elias Lindholm was demoted from 1C to 3C on a new-look, bottom-six trio that also included rookie James Hagens and Casey Mittelstadt.
JJ Peterka shifted to the second line next to Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov — a pair of second-year NHLers who were elevated from the third line.
Here’s a look at Boston’s forward grouping, based on Wednesday’s practice in Brighton.
Morgan Geekie — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Marat Khusnutdinov — Fraser Minten — JJ Peterka
Casey Mittelstadt — Elias Lindholm — James Hagens
Tanner Jeannot — Matt Poitras — Mark Kastelic
Sean Kuraly
Hampus Lindholm — Will Borgen
Nikita Zadorov — Connor Clifton
Frederic Brunet — Mason Lohrei
Jonathan Aspirot — Charlie McAvoy
Jeremy Swayman
Michael DiPietro
While Sturm acknowledged these lines aren’t set in stone ahead of Thursday’s game against the Utah Mammoth, he added that lineup tweaks were inevitable for this club — even before the offense started to dry up.
“I’m a consistent guy. I believe in that. It doesn’t matter what I do, so I like to be consistent as much as I can,” Sturm said. “Having said that, with the training camp we had and also a few players are different, it’s challenging. But I also looked back a year, and we talked about the Zacha line with [Viktor] Arvidsson and Mittelstadt — that was after Game 8 or 9.
“We still have time to try things out. It’s not going to happen overnight. Hopefully in the next little while it’s going to play and there’s some lines or pairs that are going to come up and shine and will be good for our hockey team. Because we need it.”
Generating offense is the impetus for Sturm’s lineup reshuffle. And it should come as little surprise that the trio of Pastrnak, Geekie, and Zacha are all holding court on Boston’s reworked top line.
That grouping — which led the Bruins in both goals (98) and points (233) last season — has tallied zero goals through Boston’s first four games, along with just three total assists.
Stapling Geekie on a line with Pastrnak seems mutually beneficial for both wingers, given their strong rapport and Geekie’s emergence as a legitimate 30-goal threat after earning regular reps with Boston’s captain.
Zacha played most of last season on a line with Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson, but he has plenty of familiarity skating alongside his fellow Czech countryman in Pastrnak.
The duo logged over 2,190 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together from 2022-25 with Boston — outscoring opponents, 139-90 over that extended stretch.
Despite his murky future in Boston as a pending free agent, the 29-year-old Zacha isn’t fretting over his quiet start to the season.
“I think if you see we score only two goals in four games, you want to be that guy to help the team,” Zacha said. “But on the other hand, it’s still the start of the season. I’ve played in the league for a while, so I know there’s ups and downs with points. … If you play good, if you create chances, it’s going to come eventually. … And I just need to find a way to keep creating and not get frustrated with it.”
Perhaps the most pressing order of business for Sturm and his staff heading into Thursday’s home game is fixing a power play that has opened the year on a 0-for-10 drought.
Boston made another tweak to its top power-play unit Wednesday, giving rookie Frederic Brunet a look as the team’s quarterback from the blue line. He skated alongside Pastrnak, Geekie, Zacha, and Elias Lindholm — while Peterka remained on the second unit.
Brunet likely stands as a placeholder for Charlie McAvoy — who will slot back into that spot on Boston’s man advantage once he serves the final two games of his six-game suspension on Thursday and Saturday.
But Boston’s power play outage isn’t rooted in play from the blue line, as Sturm quickly noted.
“We’re just not direct enough,” Sturm said. “We didn’t have that intensity, the drive to play fast and also attack that net. We just kind of want to make plays and plays and plays, and it’s not going to happen.
“So I think [assistant coach Steve Spott] had a good meeting this morning just to remind them again about the things we’ve done well, and so hopefully those guys get clicking here pretty quickly. We need it.”
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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