Bruins Practice: Sturm Shuffles Lines, Addresses Power Play Struggles

Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm altered forward line combinations at Wednesday's practice at Warrior Ice Arena following two straight losses. Sturm placed Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak on the top line alongside Morgan Geekie, while moving Elias Lindholm and Casey Mittelstadt to the third line to skate with rookie James Hagens. Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov joined JJ Peterka in the top six.

Sturm also addressed Boston's early-season special teams struggles, noting that the power play has lacked directness and net-front intensity. The Bruins have gone scoreless across 10 power-play opportunities through their first four games. Defenseman Frederic Brunet skated with the first power-play unit, though Charlie McAvoy is expected to reclaim that role upon returning next week.