“I don’t need to see anything special out of him,” Sturm said in anticipation of Poitras seeing his first NHL action this season, and his first with Sturm as bench boss. “I want to see him go up and down, play good defensively.”

Khusnutdinov, Sturm assured a small gaggle of media after the workout, “is going to have [Poitras’s] back.”

Get Starting Point

A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.

Poitras, who logged 66 games across the two previous regular seasons, did not make the varsity out of Sturm’s first training camp. However, he caught Sturm’s eye.

“I told him, it’s been a long time ago,” mused Sturm, “but also I remember he’s a guy I really trust, especially in the middle. So I am not really worried, so that’s why there wasn’t really a hesitation to call him up.“

Sturm also noted that Poitras’s play improved of late in Providence.

“That’s one of the reasons,” said Sturm, noting the call to summon Poitras, “and for me, he was the guy because I do trust him.”

Lindholm, who left after logging only 11:03 in ice time during Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Predators, was headed for a visit with doctors, said Sturm. Pending results of that visit, Sturm could not offer a definitive return-to-action date for the 31-year-old pivot, who this month was named to Team Sweden for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

Third on the team in power-play points (6-11—17), Lindholm submitted some of his best offensive work during the club’s January to remember. He put up a 3-4—7 line in the five games before he suffered his upper-body injury. It appeared he was hurt while taking a faceoff in the second period.

Shifting things around

With Lindholm sidelined, Sturm during the morning workout slipped Viktor Arvidsson into the No. 1 power-play unit. He was designated for wing duty on the power play, with veteran Pavel Zacha picking up Lindholm’s faceoff work.

The second power-play unit had defensemen Mason Lohrei and Hampus Lindholm working the points, with a front trio that had Fraser Minten between Casey Mittelstadt and Alex Steeves.

Jeremy Swayman started in net for the Bruins and made 33 saves against the Flyers.

Swayman improved to 22-12-2 (2.87 GAA) and remained on track to surpass his career high of 25 wins in a season.

Prior to facing the Flyers, Swayman won five of his last six outings, and was only four wins in arrears to Utah’s Karel Vejmelka, who began the day with a league-best 25 wins.

David Pastrnak entered the night ranked sixth in league point production (22-47—69) and on pace for a fourth consecutive 100-point season. The Bruins’ elite winger averaged 110 points the last three seasons, without missing one of the club’s 246 regular-season games.

Injured just prior to the Thanksgiving break this season, Pastrnak missed five games, yet still remains on pace to finish with 109 points.

Entering the night, he was riding a 14-game point streak (7-14—21), which included a career-high six assists piled up a the 10-2 thumping of the Rangers on Jan. 10, but had it snapped when he was held scoreless by the Flyers.

The last Bruins players to string together four 100-point campaigns: Hall of Famers Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. Orr strung together six 100-point seasons from 1969-75. Esposito notched five in a row from 1970-75.

Minten moved up to No. 1 center in Elias Lindholm’s absence, pivoting wingers Morgan Geekie and Pastrnak. Prior to puck drop against the Flyers, Minten ranked sixth in rookie scoring (13-13—26), and like Pastrnak, has been on a tear dating to Dec. 31 (14 games: 7-6—13). He also increasingly has become one of Sturm’s trusted hands, often found on the ice in the last minute or two of tight games. Minten wound up with a goal (No. 14) and a pair of assists (Nos. 14 and 15) vs. the Flyers to record the second 3-point night of his career . . . Mittelstadt also wound up with a 3-point night, scoring a goal (his 11th of the season) to go along with a pair of assists (Nos. 15 and 16). . . . Following a scheduled late-morning workout Friday at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, the Bruins will fly to Tampa, where they’ll face the Lightning in a NHL Stadium Series matchup Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. in the great outdoors of Raymond James Stadium. They’ll finish their pre-Olympic schedule Wednesday night in Sunrise, Fla., against Brad Marchand and the Panthers. As of Thursday morning, Marchand, 37, was 25-25—50, tied for the club scoring lead with Sam Reinhart (24-26—50) . . . The Bruins won’t return home until facing the Blue Jackets on Feb. 26, their first game back from their Olympic break. The non-Olympians will resume workouts here on Feb. 17, five days prior to the gold medal game in Italy.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.