WILMINGTON, Mass. -- For the third time in his NHL career, Bruins winger Marco Sturm has hit an ugly milestone.

Sturm's current 12-game scoring drought matches his career-worst stretch, set in November 2005 and November-December 2007. If there's any positive to his most recent rut, it's that Sturm feels that he's coming around.

In Thursday night's loss to Montreal, his second straight game on a line with center Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi, Sturm fired seven shots on goal.

"Obviously, I would like to score, but I felt great, and I thought it was one of my better games this year," Sturm said after the Bruins practiced Friday at Ristuccia Arena. "Hopefully it continues like this, and as long as I've got shots and good chances, it will come," he said.

Reuniting with Bergeron could be one key to Sturm's revival. The two were paired as soon as Sturm was acquired from San Jose, and the speedster promptly scored four goals in his first six games in black and gold (he had snapped his first career 12-game slump in his final game with the Sharks). Ever since, when Bergeron and Sturm have been together, they've made magic.

"It was great. I think we had a really good game [Thursday] night. We spent most of the time in their end, too, and had good chances. It was really good," said Sturm, who can take solace that when he broke his second 12-game slump, he scored two goals in his next three games.

Sturm, a six-time scorer of more than 20 goals in an NHL season, has scored just two goals this season. He admitted that he was definitely pressing in his previous handful of games before the matchup with the Habs. He said he finally realized "that's not me." It's also not like Sturm to sit and watch the Bruins go on the power play, but in Detroit on Tuesday, Sturm and Michael Ryder were yanked off the Bruins' struggling man-advantage. That might've served Sturm notice that he had to play better.

"Yeah, of course [that sent a message]," Sturm said. "Every time, as a forward, you hate to be off the power play. So I'm going to try to work harder, find a way to get back in."

Still searching for power

For the first time since they were assembled against the Habs, the Bruins' two new power-play units got some drill time during practice. Sturm said that his group with Matt Hunwick, Dennis Wideman, Ryder and Vladimir Sobotka should benefit from some familiarity, as the strategy is similar to what Boston has done in the past -- only with Sobotka playing the Marc Savard role along the half-wall. The other power-play unit features Zdeno Chara, Derek Morris, Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi, and Blake Wheeler.

After formal practice, all the power-play forwards hogged the ice at one end and practiced passing the puck around and shooting from their comfort spots without the hindrance of penalty-killers.

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