The Bruins are unabashedly in a youth movement this season as they push youngsters like 19-year-old James Hagens, 22-year-old Fraser Minten, 22-year-old Matt Poitras, 23-year-old Frederic Brunet, 24-year-old JJ Peterka and 24-year-old Marat Khusnutdinov into prominent roles in the Boston lineup.
That’s going to lead to some high points like the majority of those players scoring goals on the grueling four-game road swing through California and Texas, and like Tuesday night’s game in Dallas where Poitras and Hagens powered the B’s to a 2-1 lead late in the third period.
Unfortunately, the Bruins veered away from a full-throated investment in the youth movement in the final moments of Tuesday night’s affair at the American Airlines Center, and it resulted in a 3-2 OT loss to the Stars where Mikko Rantanen scored all three goals for Dallas.
Meanwhile, the B’s two goalscorers for the evening (Poitras and Hagens) combined to play the same amount of ice time as David Pastrnak, who clearly didn’t have his good skating legs in a losing effort where he didn’t even register a shot on net. Pastrnak wasn’t alone, of course, as a lot of the veteran Bruins skaters looked like they were playing the final game of a long, tiring stretch away from home.
Poitras finished with less than 10 minutes of ice time while looking, at times, like he was having difficulty with defensive zone coverage, and Hagens wasn’t on the ice for the final five minutes of the game as Boston limped to the finish line. Both players had put the B’s in a position to take two points with Hagens stepping into the net-front to redirect a puck after a really strong play from Casey Mittelstadt wheeling behind the net before finding the B’s teenager in front.
James Hagens continues his hot start to the season with a goal 🚨 7 Points in 10 Games 🔥 https://t.co/tRyDzrZEEt
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 21, 2026
The fancy stats told a tale where Boston’s youngest players had the best legs going in the Dallas game, and maybe, just maybe, it could have been a different outcome if they’d been out on the ice a little more often as things got tilted in the third period against a quality Dallas team pushing for points.
NHL Game Score Impact Card for Boston Bruins on 2026-10-20: https://t.co/erKuXfC0Tc
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) October 21, 2026
It was unquestionably a successful road trip with the Bruins taking seven out of a possible eight points and heading back home in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division with an impressive 7-2-1 record. But the final in Dallas was a bit of a bummer for a hockey team that had played such good hockey on the road before running out of gas against the Stars.
“It’s a good thing [playing the young kids],” said Marco Sturm. “But you could see it. Playing a team like Dallas today with a lot of veterans and a little bit more of a playoff atmosphere, they were making a few more mistakes than in some other games.
“But it’s healthy, though. It’s gonna help them moving forward. We are right in there. It was nice to see that every game [on the road trip] was pretty consistent. For a coach, that is what you are looking for. It doesn’t matter if it’s goalie, D or forwards, every line did their job and very consistent with good structure, not giving up much and getting some points here.”
The playmaking Poitras certainly wasn’t going to be whining about ice time after the game was over and had two shot attempts, a hit and a blocked shot in his 9:01 of ice time, but it feels like his play overall is demanding of more ice time.
“It sucks to kind of give this one away, but it was a good road trip and we had a good time with each other,” said Poitras, who is actually tied with David Pastrnak and Minten for the team lead with his four goals scored in seven games this season. “But it still sucks to not get that extra point.
“I have fun every year, but it’s been fun [this season]. Hockey is a lot more fun when you’re winning.”
Clearly Sturm is going to rely on his