BOSTON – One goal and one goalie were enough for the Bruins; they built the rest of the game around their structure.
Joonas Korpisalo made 27 saves in the Bruins’ (25-19-2) 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins (21-14-9), recording his first shutout of the season and the eighth of his NHL career. Korpisalo has now won his last two games, making 55 saves and allowing one goal in his last 120 minutes of action.
“It’s nice,” Korpisalo said about the shutout. “But I value the win more.”
Korpisalo made crucial stops in the second period, keeping the likes of Sidney Crosby away from the scoresheet on Sunday night. Pittsburgh generated nine high-danger shots on Korpisalo, but ended up scoreless when the final siren sounded in the third period.
The Penguins directed 17 shots on Korpisalo in the final 40 minutes, while the Bruins only got eight on Stuart Skinner.
“I’m glad again, I think his last game really helped,” Marco Sturm said about his goaltender. “Not for his confidence, but in general, for our team. There is no bad thing about putting him in net.”
Only one of Korpisalo’s saves came on the Penguins’ power play. Boston, for the third straight game, played disciplined hockey and stayed out of the penalty box.
“Yeah, it’s night and day,” Marco Sturm said. “For me, it’s the rhythm. Now, David [Pastrnak], the Lindholms, now they’re on the ice because we’re on the power play. They don’t have to sit again and wait and wait and wait. It takes a player totally out of their game sometimes.”
Boston took two penalties on Sunday night, but the Penguins had only 2:35 to work with on the power play.
“Virtually half the team will end up stale on the bench when we’re taking all these penalties,” Charlie McAvoy said about steering clear of penalties. “Like, a guy like [Pastrnak] to be stuck on the bench for half a period because of our discipline, that’s not good. You want to have your best players on the ice.”
They were. David Pastrnak led Bruins forwards with 22:36 of ice time.
Pittsburgh controlled the puck for most of the night, especially at even strength. The Penguins finished with a 58-39 edge in shot attempts generated, which forced the Bruins to spend long stretches playing structured defense.
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To match Pittsburgh’s pace of play, the Bruins laid out for 18 blocked shots on Sunday. 14 of them occurred in the last 40 minutes.
“It’s huge, it gives energy to our team,” Joonas Korpisalo said about the team in front of him blocking shots. “Everyone’s doing it right now. Last period, big blocks and a lot of stuff you won’t necessarily see; a lot of box-outs, a lot of puck-battles. That was a great battle win today.”
Although the Bruins picked up a shutout victory, the team’s first of the season, it was not all perfect.
Boston drew six penalties, giving them ample time (10:35) on the power play to generate scoring chances. That was not the case on Sunday night. The power play was scoreless, and the units only got two shots off on Stuart Skinner.
“I don’t know, maybe some mental tiredness,” said Viktor Arvidsson, the lone goal scorer in Sunday’s game. “Not as sharp as we usually are. I think we just keep doing what we’ve been doing and just keep playing.”
Viktor Arvidsson’s goal came at the 11:00 mark of the first period. He collected the rebound off a Henri Jokiharju shot, and the puck eventually made its way past the Penguins’ Skinner.
His goal extends his point streak to four-games (2-3–5), and he says he has been feeling good about returning to form.
“Yeah, I think I’m fully healthy in coming back from my injury that I had,” Arvidsson said in the postgame. “I feel good, my legs are good.”
The Bruins know there is little margin for error, and they turned the page quickly from Saturday’s 10-2 win. They lacked the same goal-scoring touch, but Joonas Korpisalo said that the one goal “was good enough for today.”
Boston accepted the margin and protected it; they conceded possession but trusted in their structure. Their structure, coupled with Joonas Korpisalo’s performance in the net, helped the Bruins pick up the shutout win.
The six-game losing streak has been responded to with five wins in six games. The Bruins have won all three games in the current homestand. They continue on Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings (27-15-4).