By: Ryan Bosworth | @RyanJBosworth
The Boston Bruins opened the third game of their five-game homestand, and second game of their back-to-back this weekend, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Bruins were looking to build on their impressive 10-2 victory over the New York Rangers yesterday, while the Penguins were looking to bounce back after a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Calgary Flames.
The Bruins come into today with a record of 24-19-2, sitting at sixth place in the Atlantic Division and just two points outside of a playoff spot. The Penguins are sitting with a similar record, with a record of 21-13-9 and sitting in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division, just one point outside of a playoff spot.
First Period
While the first period wasn’t quite as eventful as the first period in yesterday’s game, the Bruins were able to squeeze one past Pittsburgh’s Stuart Skinner to conclude the frame with a lead of 1-0. They thought they’d originally opened the scoring with a redirect goal by Sean Kuraly, but the on-ice officials determined it was no goal due to the contact made by Kuraly’s hand.
Viktor Arvidsson was able to open the scoring, for real this time, when a rebound attempt just squeaked by Skinner’s pad. Assisted by Henri Jokiharju and Casey Mittelstadt, the Bruins had their first lead of the evening.
The Bruins saw three power play attempts, but were unable to capitalize on the man-advantage. Joonas Korpisalo continued his strong play from Thursday night, stopping all 10 of Pittsburgh’s shots and stringing together four very strong periods.
Second Period
There are two major takeaways from this period: the Bruins’ power play continued to struggle, now getting stopped five times out of five opportunities, and Joonas Korpisalo was stellar, stopping all 10 of Pittsburgh’s shots, to keep the score at 1-0 Boston. Both teams weren’t without their chances, though.
The Bruins saw one penalty against, when Mark Kastelic bumped into Stuart Skinner and got called for goalie interference. Whether or not Kastelic, and the TD Garden crowd, agrees with the call, he was headed to the sin bin. The Bruins were able to kill it off and keep the Penguins without a goal.
Third Period
The same trend in the second period carried into the third period — no goals finding the back of the net. Which meant two things: the Bruins were able to stave off the Penguins and secure the victory, and shutout for Korpisalo, but also, they were unable to find the back of the net themselves, despite having one more power play opportunity.
The Bruins saw six power play opportunities — the final one was cut short due to a minor penalty taken by Casey Mittelstadt — and were unable to capitalize on the man-advantage. The final seven-eight minutes of the period was certainly more stressful than the rest of the game, as the Bruins were just trying to keep the Penguins at bay and prevent them from generating offense, almost as if they were playing on the penalty kill.
Their plays consisted of breakouts, gain the red line, and get it deep. It felt like they did it 100 times, and while they might’ve, it was effective enough to prevent Pittsburgh from getting anything going, despite some Penguins pressure in the defensive zone.
An overall solid game that allowed the Bruins to extend their homestand record to 3-0-0, and secure both victories in their back-to-back weekend. Joonas Korpisalo was excellent, earning the Bruins their first shutout of the season and eighth of his career. The Bruins are off tomorrow, and will be back at it on Tuesday night, as they get set to host the Atlantic Division-leading Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden.
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