BOSTON –– The Boston Bruins will look to get back in the win column on Thursday when they host the Utah Mammoth at TD Garden for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
The B’s are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday after winning their first two games of the season.
“Going back to our identity; going back to our game. We were not totally involved last game. I really liked our first three games – that was more like us,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “Play a really good, structured, hard-to-play-against [style].”
JJ Peterka will face his former team for the first time this year. The Bruins acquired Peterka from the Mammoth on June 27 in exchange for the No. 23 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a conditional first-round pick in 2028.
“Fun team to watch, fun team, too, when I was a part of it. It’s going to be an exciting game…Learned a lot from the year,” Peterka said. “I think just coming in [to Boston], knowing a few guys, knowing the coaches – it helped a lot with the transition overall to feel like home.”
The 24-year-old forward has gotten off to a quick start, scoring two goals in his first four games with the B’s. Peterka started the season on the first line with Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak, but is expected to play with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov against Utah.
“It was a lot of speed. I think getting along really good with both of them. Had a lot of fun in practice,” Peterka said. “I’ve gotten thrown out there with Mints a few times already in games, and I think it worked good. It’s going to be exciting.”
Sturm has mixed up his lines during Wednesday’s practice and said he will test them out against Utah.
“We need offense a little bit. I think we had some chances and didn’t put it in. Try to get some guys going,” Sturm said. “[Peterka] has been pretty good, so we wanted to give him a shot maybe with Fraser and Khus to get him a little more offense as well.”
