One day after the Boston Bruins suffered their sixth straight loss, 7-5, to the Anaheim Ducks at the TD Garden, they were back at Warrior Ice Arena on Friday morning trying to figure out how to turn things around. It's not going to be an easy fix.
There are a number of reasons why the Black and Gold are looking to snap their losing streak on Saturday afternoon at the TD Garden against the Colorado Avalanche, but head coach Marco Sturm was looking to fix a glaring problem. Defending better in their own zone.
According to Joe Haggerty of Boston Sports Journal, the Bruins were working on a lot of defense in the defensive zone, something that has been a major flaw of theirs. Jim McBride of the Boston Globe posted on X that Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov were missing from practice. Following the workout, Sturm explained why both players were missing.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm updates two key players missing from practice
The two free agent additions from the summer of 2024 from the Vancouver Canucks have been off to better starts this year than they were last year, but Sturm said that it was a maintenance day for both players.
Maintenance days for Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, who missed practice, but are expected to play tomorrow vs Colorado
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) October 24, 2025
Zadorov has been playing really well early this season, including with a nifty end-to-end rush in the third period against Anaheim to set up Morgan Geekie for the game-tying goal. It was a burst of speed and moves that we haven't seen from the big defenseman.
Lindholm has played better between David Pastrnak and Geekie early in the season, and honestly, a maintenance day for both players is needed with the compact schedule the league is playing this year because of the Olympic Break in February. Expect more days like this coming for other players, and both players are expected in the lineup on Saturday against the Avalanche at home.