Twelve hours after a 4-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, the Boston Bruins were back on the ice inside the same arena for a practice before boarding a flight for Calgary ahead of Monday night's game.
It has been a long time since head coach Marco Sturm and his staff were able to run a practice after playing a compacted schedule before the Holiday Break and immediately returning for a game against the Sabres. It was another frustrating performance on Saturday night against Buffalo, and Sturm used the time to get back to the basics that they were doing earlier this month when they were having a lot of success.
“We were due for a practice like that. It’s been a while. Hopefully, guys got the message we delivered this morning. I thought it was a good practice,” Sturm said. “The only chance we got to be a good hockey team is that we all are on the same page.”
Sturm is hoping that his team gets the message, as this is a huge stretch of four games coming up as they fall down the Atlantic Division standings near the basement.
Bruins make two roster moves
The Bruins are getting healthy in Boston, and the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) are going to benefit from the positive injury news. On Sunday, the Bruins announced that forward Matej Blumel and defenseman Michael Callahan were activated off injured reserve and assigned to the P-Bruins.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 28, 2025
Blumel was injured in the Bruins' win over the New York Islanders the night before Thanksgiving, and Callahan was injured on Dec. 2. It isn't surprising that both players were sent to the AHL upon being taken off injured reserve.
Linus Ullmark taking leave of absence from Senators
The Ottawa Senators returned from the Holiday Break against the Toronto Maple Leafs and allowed seven goals in a 7-5 setback. Former Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark was pulled from the game by the Senators after allowing four goals on 14 shots in just over 27 minutes of action.
On Sunday, the club announced that Ullmark will be taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons. Here's hoping everything works out for Ullmark.