Bruins coach Marco Sturm sends Nikita Zadorov a blunt message with a healthy scratch - Causeway Crowd

DALLAS — Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov was “disappointed” with being benched by coach Marco Sturm for Saturday night’s victory over the Kings in Los Angeles, but now he’s ready to put it in the rear-view. Sturm made the call, saying Zadorov needed to be better disciplined on the ice after he took a four-minute double minor (elbowing, roughing) at the end of the second period with Boston trailing in Anaheim Friday night. The penalty carried over to the first three minutes of the third period. The Bruins killed it and came from behind to defeat the Ducks. “Obviously, when you have 900 games in this league and 14 years, you don’t want to be in this situation and you feel disappointed, you feel disgusted about it,” Zadorov told the Globe following Monday’s practice at American Airlines Center. “But at the end of the day, it’s a business, so you’ve just got to move on.”Get Sports AlertsThe latest sports news and Globe's most interesting reporting and commentary right to your inbox. Enter EmailOn the play, Zadorov made contact with Anaheim’s Frank Vatrano. On replay, Zadorov didn’t appear to land an elbow, though Vatrano went down and the referee’s arm went up.

Boston Bruins fans will always have a soft spot for a large defenseman who attempts to take people's heads off when he gets mad. Nikita Zadorov throws at least one hit per game where you fear for the other player's safety, and in true Boston fashion, we love it. However, when multiple frustrating things outweigh those one or two hits, we might be developing a problem. My biggest concern with Zadorov is that he is visibly struggling to keep up with a game that is only getting faster. The big man may have some great straight-line speed when he gets a full head of steam, but when shifty forwards force him to move laterally, Jeremy Swayman or Michael DiPietro may as well guarantee that a chance is coming their way. Sometimes Zadorov manages to ride a player off into the boards or stick a hip out, but the opposition is starting to figure out how to exploit his lack of agility, and it is becoming a massive problem for Boston's rush defense. Zadorov knows it too, and when players start beating him, his frustration causes even more problems.

Nikita Zadorov wasn’t happy about missing a game, according to Jim McBride of the Boston Globe. The 31-year-old defenseman in the Bruins’ 4-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks committed a double minor penalty against forward Frank Vatrano, which became his second and third penalties of the night amid the poorest of games from him in 2026-27. Marco Sturm scratched him as a result of that in the Bruins 4-1 win against the Kings. But Zadorov doubled down on his style of play;

It was an eventful weekend for the Boston Bruins' bruising defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Friday night, he took an unnecessary double-minor against the Anaheim Ducks for roughing up Frank Vatrano not once, but twice. Nikita Zadorov really doubled down on Frank Vatrano 😬 (via @sportsonprime) https://t.co/B44rDIgar8— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 17, 2026