Practice Report: Bruins Prepare For Three-Game Road Trip

BOSTON –– The Boston Bruins are hitting the reset button.

After falling 4-2 to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday at TD Garden, the B’s returned to practice on Friday at Warrior Ice Arena, shifting their focus to the upcoming three-game road trip.

“It’s obviously a tough loss yesterday, but there’s no time to hang our heads down. We have to move forward, we have to flip the page,” David Pastrnak said. “Take whatever we can from yesterday to learn and move forward, because it is getting down the stretch and the games are coming day by day.”

The Bruins begin the East Coast swing with an afternoon matchup against the Washington Capitals on Saturday, followed by a back-to-back with the New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens on Monday and Tuesday. Boston has not won on the road since Jan. 17, and is looking to change that. The team put together 13 consecutive wins at home.

“We have good sequences on the road. The Pittsburgh game, for example, we were playing well, and then we just make mistakes and let the teams get back to the game. It’s not like we’re not playing good hockey, it’s just more mistakes,” Pastrnak said. “I think dial in, focus more on the details for a full 60, 65 minutes, whatever it takes. We have a big road trip coming up, and we have to get on a winning track on the road.”

Pastrnak posted a goal and an assist on Thursday, extending his point streak to four games; he has two goals and four assists through that stretch. The 29-year-old forward leads the Bruins with 78 points (24 goals, 54 assists) through 60 games.

Pastrnak has been skating on the first line with Marat Khusnutdinov and Elias Lindholm. Head coach Marco Sturm experimented with putting Fraser Minten at center between Pastrnak and Khusnutdinov during Thursday’s third period. Minten, the 21-year-old forward, converted with his 15th goal of the season.

The line combinations went back to their regular standing for Friday’s practice; Sturm said not to read too much into it.

“We talked about it, I thought about it. I’m not there yet. Might be different tomorrow. I just have to think about it. I didn’t want to rush anything,” Sturm said. “It was a big game we lost, unfortunately, but we are still in a good spot, and we’re a playoff team right now. I am not going to decide on anything just based on the result last night.”

Lindholm has 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists) through 52 games in his second full season with the Bruins, and will be an important piece of his team’s playoff push.

​“This certain time of the year – talk about best players, that’s where they come to shine. They are going to be the difference. I think that is something we need him to do more of, to be more of a best player, because he can be,” Sturm said of Lindholm. “It is crunch time, so we just need a bit more.”

Lindholm and Pastrnak are also on the first power-play unit together, which is looking to regain its consistency. The power play has gone 4-for-28 since returning from the Olympic break after being one of the B’s strengths in the first half of the year.

“I’m really confident we’re going to turn it around,” Pastrnak said. “We just need to get that one goal again to get going. The training staff is doing a great job to prepare us for every game. Adjustments might be needed, but at the same time, the reason we have been successful is because they had the trust in us.”