Casey Mittelstadt scored twice for the Bruins last night, and both goals came off Elias Lindholm in a 5-2 loss to the Canadiens.
Boston trailed 5-0 at one point at TD Garden. Jeremy Swayman's glare at Marco Sturm came when he was pulled after 28:14, with 13 saves on 17 shots, while Jacob Fowler stopped 30 of 32 at the other end.
Sturm called the start "very flat" and said "Hopefully a good lesson." David Pastrnak went with "unacceptable start." Those reactions are already out there, so the more useful question is what the Bruins carry into Saturday.
Mittelstadt is the obvious answer. He was the one Bruin who looked like he belonged on the ice with a Montreal team that had rolled out to a five-goal lead.
Belle Fraser noted that Mittelstadt got Boston on the board at 14:43 of the second period to make it 5-1, his sixth of the season, and that Lindholm extended his point streak to five games with the assist.
Jack Studley followed with the second one, 53 seconds into the third, as Mittelstadt buried a Lindholm rebound for his seventh.
The night wasn't all positive for him. Mittelstadt sat two minutes for roughing late in the third, which is not what you want when you're chasing a three-goal deficit. Still, seven goals through 19 games is a real number, and the +12 rating next to it is the best proof of how he has played.
Lindholm has quietly done the heavy lifting around him, with 17 points in 19 games and a five-game point streak that now includes a two-assist night.
Can Mittelstadt and Lindholm carry the Bruins past the Wild?
Not by themselves. Two goals with the game already at 5-1 and 5-2 don't change a result, and the Bruins can't count on a comeback bid every time the first 40 minutes go this badly. The start was the problem, and the start belongs to the whole lineup.
Minnesota won't give them much room to fix it. The Wild are 14-3-4, second in the NHL, and 8-0-2 over their last 10. Matthew Boldy scored three times in their 5-2 win in Toronto on Thursday.
Boston is 13-5-1 and sits third in the Atlantic Division, and it hosts Minnesota on Saturday. If Mittelstadt and Lindholm keep connecting, the Bruins will have a chance to prove last night was a one-off.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
What will Casey Mittelstadt do against the Wild on Saturday?
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