Andrew Peeke’s practice clash sends Marco Sturm a clear Bruins message

This was not about two depth players blowing off steam. It was a read on where Boston's bench is at with the season hanging and the room still down 3-2 in the series.

Peeke and Sean Kuraly went at each other during a drill, and Sturm let it breathe. That matters more than the shove itself, because it tells you the coach wants a harder emotional line from his group.

Boston finished the regular season 45-27-10 with a 22 goal differential. Solid numbers, but not the profile of a team that can drift through a pressure spot on talent alone.

Peeke is not a headline scorer. He played 77 regular-season games and put up 5 goals, 9 assists and a -12 rating, so his value is tied to structure, pushback and winning space on the blue line.

Kuraly's role is different. He finished the regular season with 82 games, 6 goals and 16 assists, and his 6 points in 9 April games say he was already dragging more pace into Boston's bottom six.

Helmets shifted, sticks came up, and neither guy backed off when the rep ended.

That is the part Boston can use. Not chaos, not sloppiness, just a sharper first five minutes and a bench that stops waiting for David Pastrnak to pull everyone into the fight.

Sturm's call here is simple. Keep Peeke in the bite role, keep Kuraly driving straight lines, and make sure that edge shows up on retrievals, net-front battles and second pucks.

If Game 6 starts flat, this turns into empty theater. If Boston comes out connected and nasty to play against, this practice clash becomes the clearest sign the coach finally got the response he wanted.