It takes a special linemate to make David Pastrnak look pedestrian offensively. The Boston Bruins' top scorer put the team and Morgan Geekie on his back at the end of last season, and despite not winning many games, he showed that the retool with most of the leadership out the door was going to be just fine with Pastrnak leading the offense.
For most of this season, that has been the case. The Bruins have been outperforming expectations, and Pastrnak is eighth in the league in points with 78. However, since returning from the Olympic break, Pastrnak's Elias Lindholm-shaped anchor on the first line has been causing the forward some troubles.
There have been too many offensive plays dying on Lindholm's stick over the past two weeks. There are theories that Pastrnak has an injury, which could still be true, but it can't be easy to gain any chemistry with Lindholm when he is affecting the offense so much. You also have to feel bad for Marat Khusnutdinov, who doesn't deserve to be the scapegoat on the first line.
If Marco Sturm wants to get the most out of his offense, he has to consider moving Lindholm to third-line center. If that's the place he has to play for the rest of his contract, it'll go down as a massive mistake for Don Sweeney, but Boston can't keep rolling him out there to lose everyone one of his shifts. He'll likely make himself a bit more valuable when playing against the other team's third line or as a too-expensive checking line center who plays against the other team's best line.
Sturm finally took the chance to switch up the lines when it was too late on Thursday night and reunite Pastrnak on his makeshift line with Khusnutdinov and Fraser Minten. The rookie continued his stellar play when centering a line with Pastrnak and scored in one of their only shifts together. If that line isn't what Sturm is looking for, he could also reunite Khusnutdinov in the middle of Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie, as the team's leading goalscorer also needs to get going.
Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie have combined for zero 5-on-5 points in eight games since the break.
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) March 13, 2026
The problems with Lindholm aren't lost on Sturm, and he didn't sugarcoat his words post-game. He didn't name any names with his comments, but it was clear that he wasn't impressed with the play of the top six outside of Pastrnak.
Asked Sturm about line changes and Lindholm. Sturm says “top guys gotta be the top guys.” Said tonight was too flat, and he made the line changes because he thought Pastrnak “needed some help.”
— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) March 13, 2026
You have to hope that Sturm learned his lesson and won't reunite the struggling first-line trio for Saturday's crucial game. The Bruins had some help around the league to keep pace in the playoffs on Thursday night, but they can't take that same risk over their three-game, four-day stretch against the Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, and Montreal Canadiens.