{"id":406741,"date":"2026-01-14T14:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/406741\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:07:09","slug":"no-doubt-pavel-zacha-is-at-center-of-bruins-recent-turnaround","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/406741\/","title":{"rendered":"No doubt Pavel Zacha is at center of Bruins\u2019 recent turnaround"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 28-year-old Zacha has been a lot of things in his 3\u00bd seasons as a Bruin. In fact, based on what we are seeing from him of late, he has been too many things. A center by definition, dating back to childhood days in Brno, Czechia, he too often has been shifted to wing duty here out of necessity. In that sense, his versatility has worked against him.<\/p>\n

He is best, and most valuable, at center. Much to Zacha\u2019s benefit, first-year Bruins coach Marco Sturm knows it. He knew it before he came back to town over the summer and began plotting where all the parts fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the message was very clear and early for me with Pavel Zacha,\u201d Sturm said soon after Tuesday\u2019s win that boosted the Bruins to 6-1-1 over their last eight. \u201cI think, watching him for years now \u2014 not even being around him \u2014 there was no question in my mind, he\u2019s a centerman for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThereThere was no question in Marco Sturm’s mind that the first-year Bruins coach was going to play Pavel Zacha at center. John Tlumacki\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Jim Montgomery, his first coach upon arriving here in the 2022 trade from New Jersey, often flipped Zacha in and out of the middle. In part, that was because \u201cMonty\u201d also had Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci on duty as two of the game\u2019s top pivots. When those two retired, Zacha the next year often played center for Montgomery, as he did when Joe Sacco took over the bench last season.<\/p>\n

Sturm often has changed line combinations but he has kept Zacha at center, where now he\u2019s working with Casey Mittlestadt and Viktor Arvidsson as his wing men. Zacha landed five shots on the Wings while Arvidsson, his confidence growing in lockstep with Zacha, put a game-high 10 shots on goalie Cam Talbot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere the team needs me,\u201d said Zacha when asked if it\u2019s just better for him to remain in the middle, \u201cbut I think, with my two-way game, I feel a little bit better at center \u2014 especially with the line I\u2019m on right now. It\u2019s been clicking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arvidsson scored the lone goal in Sunday\u2019s 1-0 win over the Penguins<\/a>. Zacha did not assist on that strike, but it\u2019s clear that his game has risen with Zacha\u2019s overall play. Arvidsson gets to the high-traffic spots on the ice, and often it\u2019s a product of Zacha getting him the puck.<\/p>\n

\"WingerWinger Viktor Arvidsson has been getting to the dirty areas in front of the net, and his center Pavel Zacha has found him a lot more recently for points. John Tlumacki\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

\u201cI think most of my career I played center,\u201d noted Zacha. \u201cIt just helps me to get into the game, even if you don\u2019t have a good start. Just the face offs and the defensive game helps me get into the game a little bit faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zacha\u2019s goal, from about 25 feet out in the slot, came with help from Mason Lohrei and Arvidsson, a red-hot rising wrister.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got an elite shot,\u201d said Bruins stopper Jeremy Swayman, who sees plenty of that shot in workouts. \u201cAnd when he uses it, it\u2019s effective. It\u2019s awesome to see him get a few this week and we know he can just keep it rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zacha\u2019s career high for goals is 21, which he scored in each of his first two seasons here. He dipped to 14 last season in 82 games, amid a worsening tide that lowered all ships. But now he has equaled that output in just 46 games.<\/p>\n

Like most playmaking centers, their DNA forcing them to distribute the puck, Zacha has been told throughout his pro career to shoot more. With four goals over the last three games, he\u2019s likely to hear it more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do,\u201d said Sturm, laughing because he, too, wants Zacha to throw more shots at the net. \u201cLike that first goal today, oh my God, he has a rocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon arriving over the summer, noted Sturm, he often saw Zacha out on the ice at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, constantly working on that shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll summer long \u2026 so he works on it a lot,\u201c the coach said. \u201dI think the frustrating part with him was he missed the net a lot. But he gets those chances, and that\u2019s what I like. He\u2019ll keep working on it. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe also goes to those tough areas. He\u2019s doing all the right things and he\u2019s finally getting rewarded because of the hard work he put in all summer long and during the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has now become Zacha\u2019s time to shine. He\u2019s finally where he belongs, right in the middle. No need to tell him to go anywhere else.<\/p>\n

Ben Volin and Gary Washburn debate if the Patriots are Super Bowl bound. Without Alex Bregman is it panic time for the Red Sox? Watch the full episode.<\/p>\n

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 28-year-old Zacha has been a lot of things in his 3\u00bd seasons as a Bruin. In fact,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[19859,385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-406741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-bruins","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}