Practice Report: Bruins Look to Build Off Win in LA 

LOS ANGELES –– Following a 2-1 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, the Boston Bruins hit the ice at Toyota Sports Performance Center for practice on Saturday.

Here is everything you need to know from the session as the B’s continue their West Coast road trip.

Sturm Provides Personnel Updates​

Practice time is few and far between this season with the condensed schedule, so head coach Marco Sturm likes to take full advantage when his team can get a full skate.​

“Even if we only got a little thing out of it, of a practice like today, it’s not really hard, but you always want to touch on one thing. I always pick one thing,” Sturm said. “It’s a little bit of the tracking and going back to our D-zone. We really noticed it in the Anaheim game, and we really noticed it last night, how much better we were. We just wanted to touch on it.”

Jeremy Swayman, who made 31 saves on Friday, agreed with his coach’s sentiment.

“It is important. At this stage in the season, practice time is pretty limited. To get the opportunity to get out and just work on system stuff that we know we can improve on is important to guys,” Swayman said. “We got better today.”

​Elias Lindholm, who has been out with a lower-body injury since Oct. 30, was a full participant in Saturday’s practice and skated on the third line with Fraser Minten and Mark Kastelic in place of Tanner Jeannot, who took a maintenance day, Sturm said.

“Doesn’t mean anything yet. We’ll see, still going day by day,” Sturm said of Lindholm’s eventual return. “See how he feels today, see how he feels tomorrow, and kind of go from there.”

Czech Line Building Chemistry

The Bruins debuted a new Czech trio against the Kings with Matěj Blümel, Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak skating on the first line.

Blümel, who signed a one-year deal with Boston in July, was recalled from Providence this week and has played three games with the NHL club.

​“It is so cool,” Blümel said. “When I signed here, it was kind of my wish to suit up for a game with those two.”

Pastrnak and Zacha have been guiding Blümel through the transition on and off the ice. Sturm said part of the reason he put the three on a line together is the chemistry they have been building as friends and teammates.

​“He’s an awesome kid. Really humble and a great kid. He makes it easy to like him and be around him. Very positive guy,” Pastrnak said of Blümel. “We feel like we have much better in us. It was the first game with [Blümel], and even with Pav, it has been a while. I would expect much better from us.”

The first line remained the same during Saturday’s practice in Los Angeles.

​Up Next

The Bruins are now off to San Jose, where they will face the Sharks on Sunday in an 8 p.m. matchup at SAP Center. It is the third of four games on Boston’s road trip.

Sturm was selected by San Jose in the first round of the 1996 NHL Draft and played eight seasons there before getting traded to Boston. Jeffrey Viel was also in the Sharks’ organization for three years (2020-21), and Mikey Eyssimont skated in 20 games for them in 2022-23.