It was a long, patience-testing five games for Mason Lohrei, sitting upstairs and helplessly watching games being played from the press box as a healthy scratch.
That meant it was going to be a good makeup test for the 24-year-old when he got back into the lineup following his first prolonged inactive stint at the NHL level, a stretch that also happened to coincide with the Bruins ripping off a five-game win streak where the defensive execution came to the forefront. As it happened, Lohrei stepped back into the B’s lineup on Saturday night with Charlie McAvoy absent, due to a family matter, and Lohrei made the most of his chance, notching a pair of assists in the B’s 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Center.
“Obviously getting ready for the game I was pretty excited just to be back and playing again,” said Lohrei. “But you are always part of the group. This winning streak has been fun, no matter what.
“It’s tough. You obviously want to be in. But you just go day by day and wait for your opportunity. It’s something that I have been through before at every level. I guess I know the recipe.”
Lohrei played in a bottom pairing with Jonathan Aspirot, and they both finished a plus-2 with the talented Lohrei picking up the two helpers while avoiding the kind of defensive gaffes that dogged him at times this season. Lohrei’s absence from the lineup had some wondering whether there was a remote possibility of him being sent back to the minors (never going to happen as he wouldn’t clear waivers), or even more extreme, perhaps the trade rumors could start brewing if he wasn’t going to be a gameday mainstay.
Friedman on Lohrei:
— Robert Chalmers (@IvanIvanlvan) November 6, 2025
“I don’t know that there’s anything going on trade-wise with Mason Lohrei. But I do know that when a talented, young player like him sits four games in a row, others call and ask what’s up.” https://t.co/QiZPIsRctp
But all that kind of talk seemed way, way premature given how quickly things can change with the health of any NHL team’s blue line group, and the kind of attrition that regularly attacks defensemen during the long, grueling 82-game regular season. It was only a matter of time before Lohrei was going back into the lineup, and his absence was likely prolonged because the B’s enjoyed their hottest stretch of the season without him.
At the end of the day, Lohrei’s undeniable talent and skill as a D-man, which was on display in Saturday’s win over Toronto, will get him back in the lineup, and should make him a contributor on the power play. It remains somewhat puzzling that so many Bruins followers seem to lose patience in a player like Lohrei while also railing on and on that the B’s organization doesn't give talented youngsters like Fabian Lysell and Matt Poitras enough slack to establish themselves in Boston.
Doesn't a clearly gifted Lohrei deserve the same kind of patient consideration given that he actually, you know, led Bruins defensemen in points last season, and has demonstrated that he can be a difference-maker with his talent making offense happen from the blue line position?
“He was good,” said Marco Sturm of Lohrei. “I think it’s easier when you only sit out a game or two, but when you’re out longer than that you get out of rhythm. It’s not easy for the player, but I thought overall he was good today.
“[The stretch of scratches] was probably longer than expected, but I just want him to defend well and play simple, and that is all that he has to worry about.”
Simple was good for Lohrei and the Bruins on Saturday, and it remains to be seen if he can keep it going now that he’s successfully bided his time and properly waited for the opportunity.
ONE-TIMERS
• Prior to the start of the season, it would have been unthinkable to imagine the Boston Bruins would go into Toronto and come out with a road win in a game where Charlie McAvoy and Casey Mittelstadt were surprise absences.
McAvoy was due to a family matter, and Mittelstadt has an upper-body injury with no timetable on his return as of yet.
But that’s exactly what happened on Saturday during Hockey Hall of Fame weekend as the Bruins took home a solid, entertaining win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on a day when longtime Bruins captain and current Bruins Hockey Operations Advisor Zdeno Chara was given his Hall of Fame jacket and ring with his induction looming on Monday night.
David Pastrnak scored the game-winner in the second period, but the Bruins got goals from Mikey Eyssimont, Viktor Arvidsson and Fraser Minten among others while rolling out another strong effort at both ends.
It would appear, after winning six games in a row and pushing to within two points of first place in the Atlantic Division, that the Bruins players are turning into believers in the system that Sturm and the B’s coaching staff have implemented this season. The narrative out of the B’s dressing room following the game was that the system was the star, and that it’s allowing players like Lohrei, Alex Steeves and Jeffrey Viel to jump into the lineup and keep the Black and Gold train running.
“It’s a testament to our system and that it works,” said Eyssimont. “Guys [were] plugged in and did a great job. Missing some of our top players tonight and we just tried to stick to our system. We all bought in.”
*Had to feel good for 21-year-old Fraser Minten scoring the insurance marker to give the Bruins some breathing room at the end of Saturday night’s win after Toronto traded him to Boston in the Brandon Carlo deal last spring.
FRASER MINTEN SCORES IN HIS RETURN TO TORONTO! 🐻
— NHL (@NHL) November 9, 2025
Yeah, that's got to feel good.
📺: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/K77AjvuloF
“[It felt] as good as it can…very good,” said Minten with a smile on his face after putting together a strong 14:53 of ice time that had Sturm calling him “the best player on the ice” in his postgame comments. “I’m a competitive guy that wants to be out there as a player, so I’m continuing to build that trust. Those minutes are why I play the game.”
• Congrats to Zdeno Chara, Jack Parker and Jumbo Joe Thornton along with the other inductees in this year’s Hockey Hall of Fame class being honored this weekend in Toronto. Big Zee is a testament to hard work, toughness, being a great leader by example and not taking any shortcuts ever as a hockey player, and human being, that continually challenges himself to be the best he can be in every area of life.
Zdeno Chara looks back on his remarkable career that’s led him to the Hockey Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/bPH5rj2TuC
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) November 8, 2025
Chara was a specimen, whether it was winning the team pull-ups competition during strength and conditioning testing every year, rag-dolling fully grown men whenever he felt like it on the ice or routinely shooting pucks well over 100-mph during the NHL All-Star Skills Competition every season. But it was his leadership and his insistence on not letting young players be derogatively labeled “rookies” that always kept cliques from developing in the Bruins dressing room, and kept every player pulling from the same rope during his years as captain.
Truly a Hall of Fame human being as well as for his amazingly accomplished hockey career.