Bruins to be without 2 key forwards for NHL Stadium Series

The Boston Bruins are headed outdoors this weekend, participating in the 2026 edition of the NHL Stadium Series against the Lightning in Tampa Bay on Sunday — the league’s 47th official outdoor game.

The Bruins will be without two key players for the contest, as head coach Marco Sturm confirmed that both Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha won’t travel to Florida, per Boston.com’s Conor Ryan.

“Sturm doesn’t believe both players are in jeopardy of missing the Olympics, but more testing will be done,” Ryan wrote on Friday.

Lindholm is set to represent Team Sweden at the Winter Olympics in Milan next month, while Zacha will suit up for Team Czechia. It’s a brutal update for the two veteran forwards, who are each putting together strong 2025-26 campaigns.

The European forwards have helped the Bruins win 12 of their last 15 games dating back to New Year’s Eve. They’re tied in third in team scoring, with 37 points; Zacha has played 54 games, while Lindholm has been limited to 44.

Lindholm was designated as day-to-day with an upper-body injury after leaving Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Nashville Predators. Zacha joined him on the shelf two days later, sustaining an upper-body ailment of his own in a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. He doesn’t have a timeline as of Friday.

Next man up for Bruins ahead of Stadium Series

Boston recalled Matthew Poitras from the AHL’s Providence Bruins to fill in for Lindholm on Thursday. The 21-year-old managed five shots over 11 minutes of ice time in a fourth-line role. Tanner Jeannot and Marat Khusnutdinov both saw increases in ice time as well.

With two of their most productive forwards out, it’s not yet clear who will center the top line alongside David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie. It’s unlikely the second line of Viktor Arvidsson, Casey Mittelstadt and Fraser Minten gets split up; the trio combined for three goals and seven shots in Thursday’s win.

Minten is now at 14 points in 14 games in January, behind only Pastrnak (25) and top defenseman Charlie McAvoy (16). He seems to be a top candidate to replace Zacha on the top powerplay unit; Arvidsson is already up in Lindholm’s absence.

The depth scoring has been a big reason for Boston’s success this year, and it’ll be a next man up mentality until Lindholm and Zacha are ready to return.

Despite being 32-20-3, the Bruins are still fifth place in an Atlantic Division that is shaping up to be the NHL’s most competitive division down the stretch. Boston still occupies the second wildcard berth, tied in points with the Montreal Canadiens.

Every point is going to be critical down the stretch, and the Bruins have two more key games before the Olympic break. They’ll face the division-leading Lightning at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday — the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — before finishing the Florida trip against the Panthers on Wednesday night.

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