On Saturday, the 31-year-old left wing scored his first goal of the season and his first since Dec. 18, 2008 after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery. Sturm admitted that he is still getting his legs under him and working on his timing, but he was delighted to find the twine only two games in.
"I'm glad it's done," a smiling Sturm said after the Bruins beat down Carolina 7-2 on Saturday. "I feel happy again and it's nice because it's been a long time."
The goal came on a beautiful give-and-go with Sturm and center Marc Savard following a Carolina giveaway. Sturm showed great chemistry with Savard throughout the game, but credited Savard's playmaking skills for making the play possible.
"It was 100 percent," he said on the decision to work the give-and-go with Savard. "First of all, he's that good. And secondly, no one was there, so it was just a bad giveaway by them and we took advantage."
Until Thursday's 4-1 loss to Washington in the season opener, Sturm had not played since that game on Dec. 18. It has been a long road back, and after his goal on Saturday, he let the people who played a major role in that comeback know they helped facilitate him playing hockey again.
"I thanked the trainers right away, because it was a long road and they really helped me," Sturm said.
Sturm was also able to play not only on the power play but also the penalty kill, amassing 3:45 on the man advantage and 1:31 helping the Bruins kill off penalties. In addition to his goal, Sturm also had an assist on Matt Hunwick's power-play tally.
"We had a talk and they want me to get ice time slowly. But I didn't have the preseason I wanted, and I wanted to get into it [more quickly]," he said. "I felt better Saturday, so we went that way. There were a lot of penalties [Saturday], so I got into the flow."
Can Sturm replace the departed Phil Kessel on the top line? Only time will tell. But Saturday was a good indication that he is on his way back to being the Sturm that led the Bruins with 27 goals in 2007-08.
