Bruins coach Marco Sturm has blunt lineup message ahead of showdown against Stars

When Boston Bruins forward Pavel Zacha was checked into the boards in the offensive zone on Friday night midway through the third period against the Anaheim Ducks, you could tell something was wrong when he went right to the bench.

That was the last time that Zacha was seen as the Black and Gold scored three third-period goals to rally for a 4-2 win over the Ducks. It wasn't surprising, less than 24 hours later, when the Bruins visited the Los Angeles Kings, that he was out with what head coach Marco Sturm called an upper-body injury.

It was not known how long he was going to be out, but there was a good sign on Monday afternoon in Dallas as the Bruins held an on-ice workout ahead of the final game of their four-game road trip on Tuesday night against the Stars. Zacha practiced but was not part of the line rushes, according to Jim McBride of the Boston Globe. Instead, he was the extra forward with the same lines used as Sturm did against the Kings.

However, according to Sturm, you shouldn't read into the lines at practice on Monday as to what you might see on Tuesday night against Dallas.

"Today’s lines don't mean anything for tomorrow,'' said Sturm, per Belle Fraser of BostonBruins.com. "We will see. We will talk about it and sleep through it."

Marco Sturm says don't read into the Monday's practice lines

It is not surprising that Sturm is playing coy about his lines more than 24 hours before faceoff. Likely it's because he wanted to see how Zacha's body handled being on the ice. Would it be surprising if Zacha missed a second straight game as a precaution? No, for multiple reasons.

First, Matthew Poitras played very well as the second-line center and made a nice hustle play in front of the Kings' net to set up Marat Khusnutdinov for the game-winning goal in the third period break a 1-1 tie in a 4-1 win. Sometimes you don't want to mix up a good thing. The way the younger players are playing, there's no need to take any of them out unless there's an injury. If Zacha does draw back in, removing Sean Kuraly again and dropping Poitras back to the fourth line makes too much sense.

Second, it appears with each passing day that Zacha is going to be traded at some point, and why risk an injury that could hamper that and a potential return? Locking Zacha up to a deal higher than Fraser Minten and Elias Lindholm is not something that would be wise if Zacha is really seeking a deal doubling what he makes currently.

There should be a clearer idea of what the lines look like tomorrow, but knowing Sturm, after Monday's workout, it wouldn't be surprising to see an optional skate Tuesday morning and Sturm not giving him any lineup decisions before the game. It'll be interesting to see what the lines look like against a talented Stars team.

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