During their six-game losing streak to begin the season, the Boston Bruins finally made some changes that resulted in a surprising 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon. One of the changes made was breaking up the defensive pairing of Charlie McAvoy and Mason Lohrei.
To say that the combo struggled would be an understatement. A major understatement. It hit rock bottom on Thursday night in the third period against the Anaheim Ducks when there was miscommunication. Both players went toward the corner in the defensive zone, which left Troy Terry open in front of the net to score the game-winning goal in a 7-5 Ducks' win.
That goal came less than a minute after Boston scored two goals within a minute to tie the game. The Bruins have been suffering heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss before Sturm made some changes.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm hints at going back to a tough pairing on defense vs. Senators
Boston is in Ottawa to play the Senators on the front end of a back-to-back with the New York Islanders at the TD Garden, and based on the gameday skate, it appears that Sturm is going back to a pairing on defense of McAvoy and Lohrei that struggled mightily to begin the season. This was the morning rush from Jim McBride of the Boston Globe.
#Bruins morning lines, D pairs:
— Jim McBride (@globejimmcbride) October 27, 2025
Geekie-Lindholm-Pastrnak
Mittelstadt-Zacha-Arvidsson
Jeannot-Minten-Eyssimont
Khusnutdinov-Kuraly-Kastelic
Viel, Beecher
Lohrei-McAvoy
Zadorov-Peeke
Callahan-Jokiharju
Aspirot
Korpisalo
Swayman
After the game against Anaheim, the McAvoy/Lohrei duo had a staggering 6.13 expected goals against, with the next closest pair just 4 goals expected against. That's borderline coaching malpractice keeping them together that long. To put them back together makes no sense.
Sturm has gone so far as to call out Lohrei after the 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers last Tuesday night, when he was beaten for a goal in the third period, when he was smoked at center ice for a breakaway.
Going back to the pairing against Ottawa, if that is what Sturm is going to do, it is a recipe for disaster against an Ottawa team coming off scoring seven goals on Saturday night against the Washington Capitals.