Marco Sturm 'Happy' With Performance in Bruins Preseason Game Against Capitals
The Bruins’ 3-2 preseason shootout win over the Capitals on Sunday night was headlined by some of its young players' performances.
Some of those players include forward Jake Schmaltz, who put the Bruins on the board in the second period, and rookie forward James Hagens, who sealed the win with a shootout goal.
Bruins head coach Marco Sturm was content with how his group played on Sunday night.
“Overall, I was happy with my guys,” said Sturm. “I worked them pretty good the last three days, so I knew they would be tired today. But you know what? They didn't stop. They worked. They tried everything possible, so that's what I liked about today's game. For me, that's us. That's Bruins hockey.”
The biggest performance of the night, however, was goalie Michael DiPietro. The 27-year-old tallied 30 saves and boasted a .938 save percentage. He allowed both goals by Washington.
“Mikey was really good,” said Sturm. “Yeah, some really good saves early on, in the end, you name it. I was very, very happy about his effort and his game. And the other guys too.”
The second-year Bruins head coach also talked about forward Matthew Poitras, who won a crucial face-off late in the third period that led to the equalizer by defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
“He tried really hard,” said Sturm. “Had a couple good moments and what was funny though, right before that, there was a neutral zone face-off and he lost that one and I knew he was pissed. So, that was one of the reasons I left him out there because I know he's pissed. I know he's going to get something out of it and he made a great face-off play.”
Additionally, Sturm shared his thoughts on Hagens’ game-winning goal and the kids line which consists of Hagens, Fraser Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov.
“I don't know if you guys watched that scrimmage the other day or yesterday. He [Hagens] did the same move,” said Sturm. “So, he tried it again. So, good for him. They [the kids line] were fine. They were fine. What I didn't like was the penalties because I thought that [Lukas] Reichel and these guys were actually pretty good too. But then there were penalties and all of a sudden they were sitting, so their rhythm got lost a little bit in the third period. That's what I didn't like. But overall it was alright.”
The Bruins continue their preseason slate on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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Kim Rankin is a lead writer for Boston Bruins on SI and Boston College On SI. A 2020 graduate of the University of Alabama. she joined Alabama Crimson Tide On SI in February 2024 covering baseball, softball, football, men’s basketball, and more for BamaCentral, but has also contributed to Missouri Tigers On SI. She previously worked as the brand manager at Tide 100.9 FM in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She has covered a wide variety of events including SEC Championships, NCAA Regionals, and bowl games.