The Boston Bruins will hope to rebound from their frustrating loss on home ice to the divisional rival Montreal Canadiens earlier this week when they face the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden on Saturday night.
But they’re making a key lineup change, as defenseman Mason Lohrei has been designated a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
For head coach Marco Sturm, it’s a bit of tough love for the defenseman in the wake of how he played against the Canadiens.
Boston Bruins Coach Marco Sturm Calls Out Defenseman Mason Lohrei After Healthy Scratching
The Bruins are removing defenseman Mason Lohrei from the lineup for the first time this season, and for head coach Marco Sturm, its because he felt that he wasn’t playing up to the club’s standards.
“We felt like the pair in general spent way too much time in our end. A lot of turnovers,” Sturm said via Bruins reporter Scott McLaughlin on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“He’s not the young, young kid anymore, so it’s a little bit higher standard now.”
Sturm looked back at the game against the Canadiens in which they allowed five even-strength goals, saying that the obvious remedy to avoid such a thing happening again was simply getting back to playing adequate defense.
“We’ve got to go back to playing good defense again. Having five goals against 5-on-5 – that’s not us. Not at all,” Sturm said. “We can’t afford that against one of the hottest teams in the league. That’s our game, anyway: playing good defense and then move from there.”
With Lohrei coming out of the lineup for the first time this season, Connor Clifton will be paired alongside Frederic Brunet on the club’s third defensive pairing, which Sturm hopes will give them a boost.
“I think, hopefully, with a righty and a lefty, also with a little bit of experience with Cliffy coming in, helping out Brunet a little bit,” Sturm said. “I think that’s what we’re looking for – to have it a little bit cleaner, I would say, and limit the D-zone time.”
So far this season, Lohrei has appeared in 19 games, and has three goals with three assists.
Mason Lohrei Is Playing In His Fourth Year With The Bruins
Lohrei, selected 58th overall by the Bruins in the 2020 NHL Draft, joined Providence in 2023 before making his NHL debut that November. After splitting time between Boston and Providence, he finished the season in the Bruins’ playoff lineup.
Lohrei became a regular in 2024-25, scoring five goals and 28 assists in 77 games, but also posted a worrying minus-43 rating. He eventually agreed to a two-year, $6.4 million extension in June 2025.
He opened 2025-26 on Boston’s top pairing but struggled and was eventually moved down the lineup. An upper-body injury sidelined him late in the season, and he appeared in only three playoff games during Boston’s first-round loss to the divisional rival Buffalo Sabres.
Marco Sturm Delivers Tough Blow To Bruins’ Mason Lohrei