Bruins Believes They’ve Found Their ‘Identity’ Under Marco Sturm

The Boston Bruins have been a surprise team this season, as first-year head coach Marco Sturm has them in a playoff spot.

Boston entered the season favored to miss the playoffs, but the Bruins have proven many wrong. The Bruins have been in a playoff spot for most of the season, and after the team’s 4-1 home win over the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday, forward Casey Mittelstadt praised the team and Sturm.

“I think as a team, I think we’ve really found an identity,” Mittelstadt said on Tuesday, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Marco’s come in firm and strong on that. I think the way he wants to play fits the personnel we have as well.”

Bruins star forward David Pastrnak, meanwhile, agreed with Mittelstadt that the team’s system is working. Pastrnak believes the Bruins wear on teams to have success, and it showed against Utah on Tuesday.

“We try to wear them down,” Pastrnak added. “The system we’re playing, when everybody is on the same page, it’s not easy to play against.

“We just try to be patient, wait for our opportunities, and sometimes it works out in the third. That’s a perfect example today.”

With the win, the Bruins improved to 20-14-0 and are in second place in the Atlantic Division. Boston is 7-3-0 in its last 10 games.

The Bruins will return to the ice on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers.