It was the Bruins\u2019 second straight road loss and dropped them to 9-4-1 overall and 4-3-1 away from TD Garden.<\/p>\n
Boston\u2019s puck management again was a bugaboo, with passes going from sticks to skates instead of tape-to-tape.<\/p>\n
The effort, however, was what irked Marco Sturm the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was creeping in. Even the games we won lately on the end, we were just very sloppy, I would say, and finally caught up to us a little bit this road trip,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cBut beside that, it\u2019s just the effort today, especially the first 40 minutes was pretty bad. And that for me was the most disappointing thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
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The Bruins scored first with James Hagens tipping in a Casey Mittelstadt centering feed after Mittelstadt had intercepted a clearing attempt by St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer behind his net.<\/p>\n
It was the fifth straight game the Bruins scored first and the fifth of the season for the rookie Hagens.<\/p>\n
Similar to the 2-1 loss in Carolina Tuesday<\/a>, Sturm\u2019s club could not sustain the momentum from the early lead and watched a Blues team that had been shut out in back-to-back games, score the next four goals.<\/p>\n The Bruins showed a spark in the third, outshooting the Blues, 14-2, but that was of little consequence to Sturm.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not really. I mean, again, I always look at the overall picture,\u201d he said. \u201cYes, you want to get something positive out of it, but again, you just can\u2019t play that way. Maybe we needed it. Hopefully it\u2019s going to be a little bit of wake-up call for us. And yeah, just got to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n Other observations from under the Gateway Arch:<\/p>\n \u22c5 Double duty: Sturm juggled his lines in the third and most notable was David Pastrnak getting double shifted at times to try to light a fire.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the guy who … he needed to crank it up the most, I would say,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cAnd again, I was trying to give him different lines, but it was not about him. It was just overall. I needed a spark. Something. And that\u2019s why we moved around.\u201d<\/p>\n \u22c5 Special forces: The Blues were nearly perfect on special teams. They converted on 2 of 3 power plays \u2014 and quickly. Jimmy Snuggerud\u2019s equalizer came just four seconds after a Charlie McAvoy penalty and Jake Neighbours\u2019s nightcap came just six seconds into a Morgan Geekie infraction. <\/p>\n In addition, St. Louis killed both of Boston\u2019s power-play chances.<\/p>\n \u22c5 Defensive breakdowns: St. Louis\u2019s second and third goals (Philip Broberg and Rob Thomas) were the result of no coverage in the slot. Both Blues floated through the middle and ripped home shots past Jeremy Swayman.<\/p>\n Thomas was open partly because of a slow change between Pastrnak and Matt Poitras. <\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely. That\u2019s on us. I don\u2019t think they did anything special. We talked about it,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cSo that was just a mental break on certain individuals. But overall, we just felt like it happened all night and that\u2019s why we deserve to come out short like we did today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u22c5 Home cooking: About the only bit of good news is the Bruins play 12 of their next 14 games on home ice.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, tough road trip. Didn\u2019t play to our standard,\u201d said Pastrnak. \u201cBut the biggest takeaway is when we are winning, we flip the page, we come to work the next day and get better. So, it\u2019s hard, but we\u2019re going to do the same. We have a big game Saturday, so we\u2019re going to get home, get better tomorrow, and get back [to winning].\u201d <\/p>\n \u22c5 Odds and ends: Hagens<\/a>, who turns 20 next week, has five goals and six assists in 16 career games. That\u2019s the fewest number of games for a Bruins teenager to reach five goals and five assists since Patrice Bergeron did it in 15 games in 2003 … Bergeron will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame<\/a> a week after Hagens\u2019s birthday … The guest on the Jumbotron between the first and second periods was Bruins legend John Wensink, who was drafted by the Blues in 1973 but is best remembered for his four seasons in Boston (57 goals, 429 PIMs) … One of the linesmen for the game was Dan Kelly, which coincidentally is the name of the legendary Blues broadcaster for whom the Enterprise Center press box is named. Some may remember one of Kelly\u2019s most famous calls from back in 1970<\/a>. \u201cBobby Orr, behind the net to Sanderson to Orr. Bobby Orr scores! And the Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup!\u201d Google it, kids.<\/p>\n Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @globejimmcbride<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Marco](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DW6QLXPDNFJGUKDT7TKV4VZHMI.jpg\")
Marco Sturm tried mixing up David Pastrnak’s linemates, but the Bruins captain was kept off the scoresheet in his team’s loss.Jeff Roberson\/AP Photo\/Jeff Roberson<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/MPGSSOLZEVDOLMZ5LNAUYSABTU.jpg\")
Former Bruin John Wensink was interviewed on the JumboTron at the Enterprise Center.Jim McBride<\/p>\n