Bruins Drop Jackets After Olympic Break (2/26/26)

It was a fun two weeks if you were an American as the United States took home the gold medal in hockey. Jack Hughes scored the OT game winner against Canada and Team USA has come home heroes. Two of them include Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman. The Boston Bruins returned from Olympic break by stopping one of the hottest teams in hockey. The Columbus Blue Jackets had won 7 straight games and 11 out of 12 coming into this one and the Bruins took it to them. Kirill Marchenko struck first for Columbus with a goal against Joonas Korpisalo just over four minutes into the game. Not to worry, Viktor Arvidsson tied it up with just four minutes left in the first. Korpisalo was briefly knocked out of the game and third string goalie Michael DiPietro had to come in during the second period. While he was in, Morgan Geekie scored on the power play to put Boston on top. With Korpisalo back, Sean Kuraly scored in the third period to make it a two goal game but Adam Fantilli scored with 6:15 left. Korpisalo made some big stops and Arvidsson supplied the empty netter to give the Bruins a 4-2 win over Columbus at the TD Garden.

                                             Kelsey Obsession approves of the win

The Jackets almost struck first 30 seconds into the game when Damon Severson took a Zach Werenski shot against the boards and dished it to a wide open Mathieu Olivier but Joonas Korpisalo blocked the backhand shot attempt. The puck went to Fraser Minten on a breakaway but Severson caught up to knock the puck away. The Jackets did strike first 4:32 into the game when Adam Fantilli took the puck away in the Columbus zone and dished it to Mason Marchment. Somehow Marchment fired the puck past three Bruins onto the stick of Kirill Marchenko who scored on Korpisalo to put Columbus up 1-0. The Bruins best chance early on was 9 minutes into the period when Henri Jokiharju fired on net and Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins kicked it out to Viktor Arvidsson who's shot went wide. Back the other way, Korpisalo robbed Miles Wood then made a good stop on a Ivan Provorov one timer. During the first commercial break, the Bruins paid tribute to Charlie Coyle who was now with the Jackets. Welcome back Charlie.

                                                     The Mayor of Weymouth returns

Nearly halfway through the period the Bruins got the first power play when Marchenko was sent to the box for hooking. The Bruins did nothing on the power play then Columbus had a big chance with seven minutes remaining. Marchment drew in two Bruins then dished it to a wide open Fantilli but Korpisalo made a huge stop to keep it a one goal game. Then while retrieving the puck in the opposite end, Elvis fell down and the puck went right to Sean Kuraly who.....was denied by a diving Elvis. Mark Kastelic was also robbed but they kept the pressure on. The Bruins finally hit pay dirt with 4:09 remaining. Jonathan Aspirot passed the puck to Arvidsson. He simply fired it toward the net and it went off Isac Lundestrom's stick and in for Viktor's 15th of the season. Columbus got the next power play with 2:09 left in the period when Michael Eyssimont was bagged for holding. One minute later, Dimitri Voronkov was alone in front of the net but Korpisalo denied him big time. That was it for the power play and the period as the game was tied 1-1 going into the second.

                                                        Sometimes its better to be lucky

2 minutes into the period there was a battle against the boards that had Korpisalo bobbing his head around when Denton Mateychuk broke free and fired on net, saved by Joonas. Mason Lohrei had a chance in the slot 6 minutes into the period but was denied by Elvis. Things looked bleak when Wood accidentally speared Korpisalo with 13:47 left in the period which earned him a face wash from Nikita Zadorov. Wood was assessed an interference penalty but that called in Michael DiPietro into duty with Jeremy Swayman scratched.

                                                              Down goes Korpisalo

                                                      "Whataya think yer doin?" - Zadorov

                                     "Here I come to save the dayyyyyyyyyyy" - DiPietro

The Bruins avenged Korpisalo 41 seconds later when Elias Lindholm dished it to Geekie. Geekie lost it and passed it to David Pastrnak. Pastrnak passed it to Geekie for the one timer.......HE SCORESSSSSSSSS. Geekie's 33rd of the season on the power play puts the Bruins up by 1 and gives DiPietro the chance to earn his first win. The Jackets got the next big chance with 7:23 left in the period when Marchenko blew by Hampus Lindholm and passed to an open Fantilli, saved by DiPietro. A few minutes later Korpisalo returned and once again, if the Bruins lead held, DiPietro would get the win after saving two shots. With 3:22 left in the period Mateychuk's drive was saved by Korpisalo and the rebound went wide. Nothing happened after that and the Bruins went into the break leading 2-1.

                                                    Another Geekie goal

The third period began with the Bruins getting a bit lucky. Fantilli beat Korpisalo glove side just 1:40 into the period but the shot rang off the post. Werenski tried his luck but Joonas made another save. Just over four minutes into the period, Pastrnak dished to Marat Khusnutdinov but was stripped of the puck by Coyle. Six minutes in, Arvidsson's slapshot was saved by Elvis. It looked like the Bruins would put this away when Marchment was whistled for slashing but they did nothing on the power-play. The highlight being Eyssimont's shot going off the side of the net. Then the Bruins struck with 8:45 left. Tanner Jeannot collected the puck and Kuraly took off like a jackrabbit. He tried a slapshot from the point....HE SCORESSSSSS! Kuraly's fifth of the season put the Bruins up by two.

                                                            Things looked good here

The euphoria was shortlived as just over two minutes later, Werenski dished over to Marchment. Marchment found Fantilli at the point and he buried the slapper to cut the lead 3-2 with 6:15 left.

                                                "Damn it all to hell" - Korpisalo

A minute later Korpisalo came up big as Sean Monahan's shot was kicked wide but Werenski's slapper dropped Korpisalo to the ice. Joonas recovered and the Bruins got it out of the zone. With 1:47 left, Werenski's shot didn't get through but Monahan's blast was denied by Joonas. Werenski got another chance but Korpisalo made another save. With 1:15 left and the net empty, Pastrnak stole the puck and backhanded it down the ice.....no good! Bruins were called for icing to keep the play in their zone. With 37 seconds left, Casey Middlestadt kicked the puck over to Charlie McAvoy. McAvoy found Arvidsson streaking toward the net. Arvidsson's shot from just beyond the blue line went in the empty net. Viktor's 16th of the season put this one on ice, 4-2. Korpisalo made 36 saves but DiPietro gets the win for being the goalie on record.

                                                             Bruins win

Reaction:

That was a big win considering Jeremy Swayman sat this one out and the win actually went to DiPietro since he was in the net for the Geekie goal. The sad part was Korpisalo played very well all things considered. Speaking of Morgan, Geekie is just seven goals away from 40 which is unreal considering he was just supposed to be a stopgap forward two years ago. Arvidsson is having his best season in 3 years and who saw that coming? The Montreal Canadiens lost in overtime so the Bruins remain one point behind Buffalo for seventh place, 2 behind Montreal for third and 3 behind Detroit for second. The Tampa Bay Lightning lost but are still nine points ahead of Boston with a game in hand. First place seems out of reach but they can go on a hot streak and overtake Buffalo, Montreal and Detroit. They're four points ahead of Washington and 8 ahead of Florida as well. Ironically Toronto has the third worst record in the Eastern Conference but would be the second wild card out west. This is going to be a tight race so Swayman better be ready. The win improved the Bruins to 33-25 with 24 games left to play. The Bruins look to make it two in a row when they take on Trevor Zegras and the Philadelphia Flyers this Saturday afternoon. The game begins at 3:00 PM at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Panthers Drop Bruins In Shootout (2/5/26)

That's going to leave a bad taste in the mouths of Boston Bruin fans as we head into the Olympic break. The Bruins had two games in Florida against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers but only snared two points out of four. After gagging against Tampa on Sunday, the Bruins rallied in this one against the Panthers. Eetu Luostarinen opened the scoring on Joonas Korpisalo in the first period but Michael Eyssimont scored twice to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. The Panthers bumrushed the Bruins in the second period with three goals to take a 4-2 lead. Not so fast! Mark Kastelic and Casey Middlestadt both scored in the third period against Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game. Overtime solved nothing and it was on to the shootout. Anton Lundell and Viktor Arvidsson both scored but Bob and Joonas stopped the next two shooters. Then old pal Brad Marchand found the back of the net, but Middlestadt didn't. The Panthers had won in the shootout 5-4 at Amerant Bank Arena.

                                                              Another shootout loss....

The Panthers wasted no time getting on the board as Sam Bennett scored just 1:24 into the game....but wait! Bruins coached Marco Sturm challenged that they were offsides and sure enough, the goal was overturned. A narrow escape for sure but not with just over four minutes into the period. Morgan Geekie completely whiffed on getting the puck out of the Bruins zone and Eetu Luostarinen pounced on it before scoring to put the Panthers on top.

                                                               Panthers strike first

The lead didn't last very long as just 7:18 into the game, Hampus Lindholm passed the puck up to Alex Steeves. Steeves fired it down the ice through the legs of Uvis Balinkis to Michael Eyssimont. Balinkis then fell down as Eyssimont scored on Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game.

                                                            Eyssimont ties it

The Bruins had a chance to jump ahead with just over 9 minutes gone in the game when Andrew Peeke passed to an open Fraser Minten. Fraser's shot clanged off the post and out. Then the Panthers did what they do best, bait the Bruins into a penalty. Sandis Vilmanis checked Jonathan Aspirot in the head and naturally he retaliated sparking the bench to clear. When all was said and done, both men got penalties but the Bruins got a bench minor served by Eyssimont to put the Panthers on a power play. With 8 minutes left in the period, Carter Verhaeghe's slapper went off Joonas Korpisalo and a few seconds later, Andrew Peeke moved the puck out of the corner. Marat Khusnutdinov fired the puck down ice to Eyssimont just out of the box. Michael scored on the breakaway to give the Bruins the lead. With 5 minutes left in the period, Khusnutdinov walked in alone but was denied by Bob. Ten seconds later, Aaron Ekblad was called for interference to put the Bruins on the power play. Geekie totally blew a breakaway and Evan Rodrigues nearly tapped home a shorthanded goal. With 3 minutes left in the perod, Casey Middlestadt hit the post with a shot and a minute later, Sean Kuraly was denied as well. Then things got testy with 53 seconds left when Matthew Poitras tripped up Sam Bennett. Bennett retaliated and another brawl broke out. Tanner Jeannot and old pal AJ Greer dropped the gloves and all four pen were penalized. Then Nikita Zadorov took a foolish slashing penalty after the period to put Florida on the power play when play resumed. Still, it was 2-1 Boston going into the break.

                                                     Eyssimont strikes twice

Naturally the Panthers didn't wait around to tie the game when the second period began. Anton Lundell dished it to Matt Tkachuk. Matt passed it to Balinskis at the point who fired it past Korpisalo to tie the game. Worse yet, two minutes later Viktor Arvidsson was sent off for hooking. Naturally, Balinskis passed it over to Lundell. Lundell found Tkachuk in the front of the net and he banged it home to give Florida the lead. Two power play goals for the Panthers. Korpisalo had to rob Verhaeghe point blank seven minutes into the period to keep it a one goal game. With 7:35 remaining in the period, Eetu Luostarinen got bagged for interference to put the Bruins on the power play. Arvidsson had an open net but was pushed down before he could take the shot. Geekie had a chance to shoot into the scrum in front of the net but dished it to David Pastrnak who couldn't corral it. Peeke damn near tapped it in but was cross checked from behind by Niko Mikkola for another penalty. Once again the Panthers had a better chance shorthanded but Lundell was robbed by Korpisalo. Geekie, Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm were all denied on the power play. Luostarinen slashed the stick of Eyssimont to put the Bruins on another power play but the Panthers finally got the last laugh. With 1:37 left both Eyssimont and Rodrigues were sent to the box for matching roughing penalties to keep it 5 on 4. Still, Sam Reinhart passed up ice to a wide open Lundell who buried the shorthanded goal to seemingly ice the game. That was it for the second period with the Panthers up 4-2.

                                                      Giving up a shorty is inexcusable

The first five minutes of the third period were uneventful but then Gustav Forsling was sent to the penalty box for tripping to put the Bruins on the power play. The Bruins failed to cash in but struck pay dirt almost immediately after the penalty expired. With just under 8 minutes gone, Hampus Lindholm dished it to Charlie McAvoy. McAvoy threw it in front where it deflected of the stick of Mark Kastelic and in for Mark's 9th goal of the season. With 10:25 left in the game, Arvidsson broke free for a breakaway but Verhaeghe slashed him in front of the net to draw a penalty. Just nine seconds later, Morgan Geekie dished it to Pastrnak in front of the net. Bob stopped his shot but Middlestadt banged in the rebound to tie the game on his 12th goal of the season. With 4:17 left, Luostarinen got nabbed for high sticking to give the Bruins one final power play. Once again Reinhart broke free for a shorthanded breakaway but Korpisalo stopped this one.

                                                            Bruins tie it up

With 37 seconds gone in overtime, Reinhart dished it to a wide open Lundell but Korpisalo made a big save. Nothing else happened and it was on to the shootout. Lundell went first and scored on Korpisalo only for Arvidsson to score to tie it up. Both Reinhart & Tkachuk missed but so did Khusnutdinov and Middlestadt. Naturally, who else but Marchand scored the game winner to win the game for Florida 5-4 in a shootout.

                                                             Panthers win

Reaction:

No matter where they are in the standings, the Bruins absolutely cannot beat the Panthers. It was nice to see them rally down 4-2 but they gave up way too many shorthanded opportunities. Korpisalo may have allowed 4 goals but he wasn't the problem here. He bailed them out plenty of times as well. Also maybe its time Marco Sturm stops going to the scrubs in the shootout and sends guys like Geekie, Pastrnak and Minten out there. There's only 25 games left in the season and every point matters. The Bruins getting 2 instead of 1 would have put them in a better position in the standings not just now but when all is said and done. The difference is this year the Bruins have guys like Kastelic, Jeannot and Zadorov to match up against Florida's goons and pests like Marchand & Tkachuk. Now the Bruins will be a team divided as the Olympics are upon us. Brad Marchand goes to active duty with Team Canada while Pastrnak joins Slovakia. Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman join Team USA, Henri Jokiharju and Korpisalo join Finland while Elias & Hampus Lindholm join Team Sweden. The rest get to take a week vacation. The Bruins did get a point in this one, putting them 2 points behind Montreal for the third seed and 3 behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second. The Bruins don't play as a team until February 26th against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Good luck to everyone in the Olympics.