It didn't take long for Marco Sturm to get his message across to a Bruins forward

In his first season as head coach of the Boston Bruins, Marco Sturm has not been afraid to send a message. Unlike previous coaches ahead of him in Boston, Bruce Cassidy and Jim Montgomery, who did it through the media a lot of times, Strum has taken a different approach.

Sturm has not been afraid to make players a healthy scratch this season. When he has done it, he has got the results he's been looking for. First, it was Marat Khusnutdinov and then Casey Mittlestadt. The latest was first-year forward Mike Eyssimont. On the recent three-game road trip, Sturm scratched him against the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets.

After Viktor Arvidsson went down against the Jets in last Thursday's 6-3 victory, Eyssimont was inserted back into the lineup on Sunday night against the Minnesota Wild. In Boston's 6-2 loss, Eysssimont picked up an assist on a third-period Alex Steeves goal. With Arvidsson still missing against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night at the TD Garden, Eyssimont was again back in the lineup and once again responded to Sturm's message by being a scratch.

Mikey Eyssimont seals Bruins win over Mammoth with third-period goal

Taking a 2-1 lead into the third period against Utah, Mittlestadt gave the Black and Gold some cushion with a goal for a 3-1 lead, then shortly after that strike, Eyissmont sealed the win with a highlight reel goal.

He collected a loose puck in Boston's defensive zone and went end-to-end and around a Mammoth defenseman to beat Vítek Vaněček for the fourth and final goal in the 4-1 win. It was Eyssimont's sixth goal of the season and brought his point total to 14, which is two shy of what he collected last season between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Seattle Kraken.

“He’s very hard on himself all the time, so I’m very happy for him that he got rewarded today with his big goal,” Sturm said. “He wants it really badly, and he was not happy either (to get scratched), but he said, ‘Yeah, I have to be better.’ That is the kind of response I am looking for.”

Let's point out one thing. The 2025-26 Boston Bruins are not as talented a team as there is in the NHL this season. They have to rely on Sturm's system to win games. They are, and they are getting contributions from players like Eyssimont and getting players to play better after being a healthy scratch. Say what you will about the Bruins this season, but Sturm seems to be pushing the right buttons early on, and it's working. For now.