Second Line Shines in Bruins 6-3 Win Over Flyers 

BOSTON –– It was a last-minute decision for Marco Sturm.

The head coach originally had Fraser Minten centering Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak during Thursday’s morning skate.

​However, when warmups commenced at TD Garden ahead of the matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, the 21-year-old forward took rushes on the second line between Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson.

“Had a good sleep. Had a good nap,” Sturm said with a laugh. “Coming into the rink today, also talking to David [Pastrnak] this morning. Throwing out some different ideas.”​

It ended up being the right call. The trio combined for seven points in the Boston Bruins’ 6-3 win, including three-point showings from both Minten and Mittelstadt.

“Very impressive for such a young kid to play like that. [Minten] fit right in. Felt very comfortable,” Mittelstadt said. “I thought we were moving the puck well, and even the last couple of games we’ve had a lot of chances, and maybe they haven’t gone. I think if you get one early, you start feeling good and you go from there.”

Arvidsson put the B’s ahead 1-0 in the first period. Minten dropped the puck down to Mittelstadt, who hit Arvidsson by the right circle, where he one-timed it home at 9:49. It was Arvidsson’s second goal in four games.

Pavel Zacha widened the gap with his 15th tally of the season. Geekie swung the puck over to Zacha in the slot to settle and pop past Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson, making it 2-0 at 10:30. Geekie extended his point streak to six games with the assist. Zacha left the game with an upper-body injury after the second period; Sturm did not have an update.

Minten continued his productive month, giving the Bruins a 3-0 lead to open the middle frame; he has eight goals in January and a total of 14 on the season. Mittelstadt picked up his second assist of the night, dishing it up to Minten on the left side, where he wristed it in at 2:27.

“[My confidence] is definitely building. Just finding space where you can hold onto pucks, you can try to make some plays,” Minten said. “It’s a tight area for 10 guys, but once you figure out where there are some soft spots in coverage, I think you can kind of build that game. I’m just trying to do that.”​

Travis Konecny got the Flyers on the board, 3-1, with a snapshot at 3:16, but the B’s soon pushed back.

After setting up both of his linemates, Mittelstadt got a goal of his own – and his third point of the game – to make it 4-1 at 16:12. Minten launched a cross-crease pass to Andrew Peeke, whose shot was saved, and Mittelstadt came and backhanded in the rebound. The assist marked Minten’s third point of the night, too.

“I’m very, very happy with the way he’s been playing all year long. I put him in different situations from fourth line to pretty much first line, and you could see he can do it all,” Sturm said of Minten. “He definitely has something a lot of players don’t have.”

A few minutes later, Peeke blasted one from the point, which Tanner Jeannot tipped in for the 5-1 boost at 18:40. Philadelphia’s Nikita Grebenkin scored at 19:05 for the 5-2 standing ahead of the third period. Marat Khusnutdinov’s empty-net tally at 16:30 and Matvei Michkov’s power-play goal at 18:19 brought the contest to its final 6-3 scoreline.

“I think we’re just committed to playing the right way,” Peeke said. “We knew this was the last home game before the break and put a big emphasis on just finding a way to get two points. We’ve had a great homestand here, all the month of January, and just ending on a good note for the fans was really important for us.”

The Bruins now depart for Florida, where they’ll participate in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.