With Jeremy Swayman given an extra night off to acclimate to post-Olympic life, Joonas Korpisalo filled in more than admirably.
The former Columbus netminder made 36 saves, including several big ones, to lead the Bruins to a 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets at TD Garden.
Viktor Arvidsson led the way on offense with two goals, one an empty-netter to seal it. Sean Kuraly (also a former Blue Jacket) and Morgan Geekie scored the other goals.
Kirill Marchenko got the scoring started in this one, making it 1-0
Columbus with a breakaway goal less than five minutes into the first period.
Arvidsson got the Bruins on the board with a lucky bounce off a toss on net ten minutes later, making it a 1-1 game.
Geekie gave the Bruins the lead with a power play goal seven minutes into the second period, making it 2-1 Bruins.
Kuraly added an insurance goal midway through the third period, beating Elvis Merzlikins with an “off-the-post-and-in” goal to make it 3-1 Bruins.
Adam Fantilli would make it a one-goal game just two minutes later, beating Korpisalo from the high slot to make it 3-2 Bruins.
Arvidsson would seal it with an empty-netter with 33 seconds left in the third.
Bruins win, 4-2.
Game notes
- Korpisalo left the game for a little more than six minutes in the second period after being bowled over by Miles Wood. With Swayman not dressing, Michael DiPietro, who has had a terrific season in Providence, stepped in as the back-up and made two saves on two shots. A nice 1.000 save percentage for six minutes of work. NOT BAD.
- 20 of Korpisalo’s 36 saves came in the first period, as Columbus fired plenty of rubber on net early.
- The B’s took just a single penalty on the night, a holding call on Mikey Eyssimont late in the first period. Maybe they left their penalty woes in the pre-Olympic portion of the season?
- The B’s celebrated Charlie Coyle during a break in play, as the Weymouth native made his first return to TD Garden since getting dealt to Colorado.
- Charlie McAvoy showed little rust in his return from Olympic duty, leading the B’s in TOI at 23:55 and registering an assist.
- Per NESN, the Bruins have won ten homes games in a row and are 12-2-3 since the calendar turned to 2026. They have points in eight straight games as well.
- It’s probably too early for intense standings watching, but this was a pretty big win for the B’s based on other results: Florida and Detroit won, while both Ottawa and Montreal picked up points in losses.
- That Florida win was a 5-1 decision over Toronto, which also lost on Wednesday night. Auston Matthews was a -4 in tonight’s loss, which should inspire some nuclear-level takes up in the Great White North. That game included this comedy of errors goal.
The Bruins will be back in action on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. That game will be a 3 PM start, broadcast nationally on ABC.
