The first period was about as exciting as a glass of water although Korpisalo had to make an early save on a Mikhail Sergachev blast. Then 6 minutes into the period Mark Kastelic decided to trade punches with Robert Bortuzzo. One minute later, Lawson Crouse got whistled for tripping to give the Bruins the first powerplay. Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka stopped Georgii Merkulov, Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie to keep the game scoreless. Parker Wotherspoon was also robbed by Vejmelka before Geekie got bagged for tripping to put Utah on the powerplay 10 minutes into the period. On the power play, Korpisalo robbed Sergachev point blank to keep the game tied and Jack Bain got whistled for high sticking to put the Bruins back on the power play with 6:58 left in the period. The Bruins could do nothing although David Pastrnak was stoned by Vejmelka. Justin Brazeau also got robbed to keep the game scoreless. Vejmelka robbed Geekie twice as the B's were now 0-3 on the PP. With just over 3 minutes left in the period, Crouse got two minutes for slashing to put the Bruins on another power play. Merkulov whiffed on a chance but Vejmelka stoned Zacha on a blast. That was it for the first period with the game tied 0-0.
Early in the second period Korpisalo had to make a save on a Dylan Guenther blast as Vejmelka had to stop Cole Koepke on the door step. Pastrnak had a partial breakaway 3 minutes into the period but was poked check away at the last second by Jack McBain....but wait! The refs called hooking on the play to put the Bruins back on the power play. One second on the power play, Pastrnak's blast was gloved by Vejmelka. Another Pasta blast was saved by Vejmelka then McAvoy was robbed. Brad Marchand tried to whack it in but failed. Charlie Coyle got sent to the box with 14:31 left in the period but Korpisalo held strong. The Bruins once again went on the power play when Cooley was called for holding with 7:40 left in the period. Finally the Bruins hit paydirt when Pastrnak's blast ricocheted to Elias Lindholm, who tucked it on to put the Bruins up 1-0. Not too long after, Kastelic once again went blow for blow with Bortuzzo although he picked up a 2 minute roughing penalty to put the HC's on the power play. The HC's failed to score on the power play and not much else happened in the period. The Bruins went into intermission up 1-0.
One minute into the third period Zacha gave the puck to a wide open Crouse but Korpisalo made the save. Half a minute later, Michael Kesselring got bagged for cross checking to put the Bruins on another power play. Charlie McAvoy was robbed point blank and the Bruins once again failed to cash in. With 8 minutes left, Guenther hit the post and nearly kicked the air in frustration. With just under seven minutes left, Koepke got thrown in the box for slashing to put Utah on the power play. Utah failed to cash in and Vejmelka went to the bench with 2:13 left in the game for the extra attacker. The game was essentially ended when Kevin Stenlund took a slashing penalty with 1:48 left. It looked like Pastrnak hit the empty net with 58 seconds left but for whatever reason the goal was reviewed. The refs said Pastrnak played it with a high stick, which wasn't even on the shot attempt. Either way the goal was disallowed. With 5 on 5 for the remainder, the Bruins held on to post the goose egg 1-0.
Reaction:
That was more like it. The Bruins offense continued to be completely inept but the defense woke up big time. Utah is not a great team but that was 60 minutes of hockey aided by the Korpisalo performance. He didn't have to make any highlight reel saves but when the defense isn't a turnstile, he didn't have to make any. The power play did score a goal but had plenty of other chances to score more. The lack of offense on this team is frightening but its only November. There's a long way to go before they sell or add at the trade deadline. Lindholm was desperate for a goal, Korpisalo needed a good game and Nikita Zadarov needed to anchor the defense. All three things happened and the Bruins won the game. The win improved the Bruins to 9-9-3 and next on the agenda is a Saturday night showdown against the Detroit Red Wings. The game begins at 7:00 PM at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
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