There are several problems that have hurt the Boston Bruins through their six-game losing streak. Their play on the defensive end has been a big problem. For a team built on their defense and goaltending, they allowed a lot of goals and a lot of late goals to lose games.
The latest meltdown was Thursday night at the TD Garden when they allowed four third-period goals in a 7-5 loss. The backbreaking goal was scored 30 seconds after the Black and Gold tied the game with two goals 25 seconds apart when Mason Lohrei and Charlie McAvoy had a breakdown in coverage that led to Troy Terry being wide open in front of the net. It can't happen.
On Friday at practice at Warrior Ice Arena, head coach Marco Sturm changed up the pairings on defense with Lohrei being paired with Andrew Peeke. McAvoy was with Michael Callahan while Nikita Zadorov was missing for what was described as a maintenance day. After practice, Sturm explained what he said to Lohrei, who had struggled early in the season.
Bruins practice lines:
— Belle Fraser (@bellefraser1) October 24, 2025
Geekie-Khusnutdinov-Pastrnak
Mittelstadt-Zacha-Arvidsson
Jeannot-Minten-Eyssimont
Viel-Kuraly-Kastelic
Beecher
Callahan-McAvoy
Lohrei-Peeke
H. Lindholm-Jokiharju
Swayman
Korpisalo
Zadorov and E. Lindholm not on the ice today.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm reveals message he gave Mason Lohrei
Lohrei scored his first goal on the power play in the second period against the Ducks, but his play in the defensive end has left a lot to be desired.
“Keep it simple,” said Sturm. “He is what he is. If you’re not a sprinter, you’re not a sprinter … you will not change that. But you can change how simple you’ve got to play the game, how you’re going to respect the game. It’s a hard league. So he has to understand to just focus on his job doing nothing crazy. Just simplify things. But he cares and he wants to do something special and he wants to do more than he should be. And that’s when he gets in trouble.”
Keeping it simple is a message that he needs to hear. You can see that he's trying to do too much at times, and he has been caught out of position a lot. When he keeps it simple and plays his game, he's much better than what he's shown. Saturday against Colorado would be a good time for him to keep it simple and play his game.