After the Boston Bruins suffered a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes last Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina, second-year head coach Marco Sturm made some lineup changes two nights later against the St. Louis Blues.
Young defenseman Frederic Brunet was a healthy scratch against St. Louis. He was out again against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon in the Black and Gold's 5-4 come-from-behind win. Also out against the Blackhawks was center Matthew Poitras. On Monday night, Boston opens up a busy and home-heavy month of November at the TD Garden against the Vegas Golden Knights. After a morning skate at the TD Garden, Sturm announced some lineup changes, and some of it was good news, and some was, well, head-scratching.
Bruins are returning Matthew Poitras to the lineup against Vegas
Sturm informed the media, according to Adam Pellerin of NESN, that Poitras will be back in the lineup as the fourth-line center between Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic, while Brunet will miss a third straight game. Jonathan Aspirot will play in place of Brunet. So to recap, Brunet, Sean Kuraly, and Connor Clifton will be scratched against the powerful Golden Knights.
From Marco Sturm:
— Adam Pellerin (@adampellerin) November 2, 2026
- Poitras back in
-Aspirot stays in
-Kuraly, Clifton, Brunet are a healthy scratch
-Swayman in net vs Vegas#NHLBruins
So let's discuss Brunet a little more. He had been playing very well early in the season, and yes, he was showing signs of struggling a little bit. Sitting him against the Blues was not surprising, and maybe most fans would agree it was needed. You could see him getting a second game against Chicago, but a third game against Vegas? Let's be honest, that could begin to crush the confidence that he had gained early in the season.
It's not like Aspirot or Clifton and major upgrades over Brunet. Let's not kid ourselves. Brunet is the type of player who needs to learn from his mistakes, as Mason Lohrei did a couple of years ago, and sitting out for a lengthy amount of time might not be good for him in terms of getting his confidence back.
After Michael DiPietro picked up the win over Chicago on Saturday afternoon after coming up with some big saves to allow his teammates to rally late, Jeremy Swayman will be back between the pipes against the Golden Knights.
As for the rest of the lineup, there will be no other changes other than the ones mentioned above, but it will be worth keeping an eye on just how long Brunet stays out of the lineup. Boston's next game will be on the road on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Add us as a preferred source on Google