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Bruins Give Marco Sturm Plenty to Think About in Preseason Win
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- Bruins Give Marco Sturm Plenty to Think About in Preseason Win
Jack Studley / Boston Hockey Now
The Boston Bruins won both of their home games during the preseason, but more importantly, they are making decisions hard for Marco Sturm and his coaching staff.
The Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 on Tuesday night, with four unanswered goals in the third period putting the game away. Mikey Eyssimont scored twice; Morgan Geekie , Brian Halonen , and Elias Lindholm each had one, and Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves in the win.
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Frederic Brunet , who had been skating alongside Charlie McAvoy throughout camp, was in a different role Tuesday. He skated with Max Guenette on the third pair, but he finished the night with two primary assists and a plus-two rating in 16:21 of ice time.
"It felt good. I mean, I wasn't really involved in the offense last game, and I think it felt good to play a part in it and get a couple goals, get a couple shots on net, a couple lucky rebounds, get my assists," Brunet said postgame. "I mean, it was a team effort today. Getting the pucks on net is one thing, but getting the rebound and getting inside the defense is another thing, and I think the forwards did a great job today with that."
Frederic Brunet on contributing offensively:
"It felt good. I mean, I wasn't really involved in the offense last game, and I think it felt good to play a part in it and get a couple goals, get a couple shots on net, a couple lucky rebounds, get my assists. But yeah, it feels… pic.twitter.com/iGjkOIBJnP— Jack Studley (@jackstudley13) September 23, 2026
Brunet's emergence through camp and the preseason is making him hard to ignore. He is the youngest waiver-eligible defenseman the Bruins have at camp, and Marco Sturm wants to make tough decisions as he shapes the opening night roster.
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"He had another good night," Sturm said of Brunet. "He's been rock solid. There are still little details in his game we have to clean up, but overall, having his first few games here this year under his belt, I think he looks very comfortable. So that's a good thing."
The third line of Tanner Jeannot , Dans Locmelis , and Mikey Eyssimont also had a productive night. They finished with a 13-4 edge in shot attempts, a 6-2 advantage in shots, and they scored twice.
Eyssimont scored both the game's first and last goals. He redirected a Frederic Brunet point shot past Dan Vladar , who left the game after that play with an injury. He then capitalized in the final two minutes off a feed from Locmelis.
"He's been good. He's been very focused throughout camp. Every day, he's been good, and he's playing with pace, he's played with grit; he's been really good," Sturm said of Eyssimont. "This kid has been around in the league for a little bit too now, and I think he realized now he also needs to step up his game, because he really wants to make the team. And that's good. He's going to make it hard on me, and that's good. That's exactly what we want.
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"We wanted to have good competition here in training camp, and that's exactly what he's doing right now."
While the Bruins' roster continues to take shape, Marco Sturm got a look at a potential power-play unit to start the regular season.
The Bruins rolled out two units during morning skate in Brighton on Tuesday. Hampus Lindholm , David Pastrnak , Pavel Zacha , Morgan Geekie , and JJ Peterka ran the top unit, with Lindholm taking McAvoy's spot and Geekie running the bumper.
"Yeah, it's a little bit of a new formation, I would say. Just having Geeks more in the bumper and with JJ in the mix too. It automatically changes a few things, so I'm glad they found the net today," Sturm said postgame. "We just need more reps. Morgan is a guy [who] probably needs to feel a bit more comfortable in the middle. He's so used to being the shooter on the flank, but these guys can exchange too. So it's just hopefully the start of something good, because we have really good players on that unit, and hopefully they can be the same weapon like they were last year."
Marco Sturm on the power play:
"Yeah, it's a little bit of a new formation, I would say. Just having Geeks more in the bumper and with JJ in the mix too, so it automatically changes a few things, so I'm glad they found the net today. We practiced only a few times, and today was… pic.twitter.com/XI9qtMF1AY— Jack Studley (@jackstudley13) September 23, 2026
While Geekie spent last year as the shooter, being the bumper is a very familiar role. He said he played bumper his "entire life until last year, so it's normal, but it's different." He worked with Patrice Bergeron at practice last year , and referenced some old tape between Pastrnak and Bergeron.
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"[Pastrnak] and Bergy are really good at it," Geekie said. "I've watched a lot of video on how Bergy played the middle, and I was on the ice with him a bit last year, and didn't play a ton in the middle, but it definitely helped me just get that mentality to be on the inside and kind of present in areas that you're not really used to being. It's a work in progress, but it was good to get one tonight."
The Bruins went 1-for-2 on the power play Tuesday night, with Geekie scoring the lone marker . He redirected a slap pass from David Pastrnak through the five-hole of Aleksei Kolosov , who played in relief of the injured Vladar. The goal came just 14 seconds into the power play, and it proved to be the game-winner.
Peterka was also part of the top unit, and while he did not find the scoresheet, his impact was felt all over the ice. The "speed and skill" that Don Sweeney called for this summer is there with Peterka, and Marco Sturm gave him a period alongside David Pastrnak in the third.
Peterka spent the first two periods on a line with Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt before swapping spots with Morgan Geekie.
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"I think it was a lot of fun. I think you could feel the energy come up [to] our line and we had a lot of good looks," Pastrnak said about playing with Peterka. "It was just the one period, but he seems like a very smart player who is a good skater and great on the forecheck."
The Bruins do not play at home until the regular season opener. Until then, they will be at Warrior Ice Arena for camp Wednesday before playing road preseason games Thursday and Friday.
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