BOSTON – “We didn’t like our first period,” said Sean Kuraly after the Bruins’ win.
The Bruins (33-20-5) rallied back for the next 40 minutes to make it 10 straight on home ice with a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets (29-21-7) Thursday night. Two former Blue Jackets helped the Bruins win, Viktor Arvidsson added two goals, and Morgan Geekie netted one on the red-hot power play.
The Blue Jackets opened the scoring with a goal at the 4:32 mark and outshot the Bruins 20-10 in the first period.
“Yeah, it was not pretty,” Marco Sturm said about the first period. “We knew it was hard, you know, after coming back after a long stretch there, for everyone. That was just not us. That was just not the game we wanted to play. We just had to settle things down.”
The Blue Jackets dictated momentum in the first period. They generated 35 shot attempts to the Bruins’ 23, while also creating 18 scoring chances to the Bruins’ 11 at 5-on-5.
“Well, credit to them,” Kuraly added. “They came out hot. They played a really good first 20. I mean, they played a good 60, we thought, but we weren’t happy with our first 20. Came in here and tried to refocus.”
Viktor Arvidsson cashed in a deflection off Isac Lundestrom’s stick at 15:51. The score was tied after the first 20 minutes, even if Rick Bowness’s team dictated control of the game.
The Bruins refocused after the first intermission, and scoring chances turned in their favor during the middle frame. They generated 10 to the Blue Jackets’ seven.
Image courtesy of NaturalStatTrick
Though the 5-on-5 game has been consistent this season, the power play has also been a strength for the Bruins.
Morgan Geekie scored on the Bruins’ lone power play of the second period. He played the puck to David Pastrnak, who turned it back to Geekie for a one-timer high. The goal marked Geekie’s 11th power play goal of the season, and he tied his career high in goals (33).
Geekie credited assistant coach Steve Spott for the power play success.
“Spotter’s done a great job of trying to implement other things,” he said after the game. Obviously, [Pastrnak is] a world-class player and made a great play on the goal. But I feel like we’re being reliable and in the right spots for everybody to find the right outs, and obviously, it leads to some success for us.”
Since January 1, the Bruins’ power play has clicked at a 30.6% rate, the third-best rate in the league. They have found the net 15 times in that span, and 45 times this season.
The Bruins only took one penalty tonight, an early sign of the “homework” Marco Sturm said he did over the break. They killed it off, and Korpisalo made three saves shorthanded.
“I think it’s the biggest thing for the PK is going to be keeping that number down on the penalty kill,” Sean Kuraly said after the game. “But yeah, we felt comfortable. Just going to have to keep getting better, keep watching video, and keep working.”
Kuraly, a former Blue Jacket, added the eventual game-winner when he gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead in the third period.
Joonas Korpisalo, another former Blue Jacket, backstopped the Bruins with 36 saves, including 10 high-danger saves. He made 19 in the first period and 10 in the third period; he was named the first star.
“[Korpisalo] was unbelievable today,” Sturm said about the starting goaltender. “Glad he came back right away, from the Olympics right away, and didn’t waste any time. Wanted to be in practice. I thought that the last two days were very important for him, just to be back on the ice and having a real practice again. He was great.”
However, he only played 53:57 on Tuesday. Miles Wood made contact high on Korpisalo, which sent him down the tunnel briefly.
“Little bit,” Korpisalo said on whether he was surprised at being pulled. “Never happened before. It’s, you know, league protocol. It’s a pretty big bump, so I can understand that.”
Korpisalo returned to the game and made 13 saves, including 10 of 11 in the third period.
Michael DiPietro, who has not played an NHL game since January 23, 2022, entered for a 6:03 stint when Korpisalo went down. He stopped both shots he saw. The 26-year-old has been on a crusade in the AHL this season, leading in both goals against average (1.76) and save percentage (.938).
“For me, I think just being comfortable out there,” DiPietro said after the game. “I really like where my game is at, personally. I think, for me, the comfort level and getting the reps in practice have been good for the last couple of weeks. Like I said, just went in there, got the nerves out, relied on the breathing, and just let it go from there.”
DiPietro has been called up twice since the Bruins returned to practice on February 18. He returned to Providence for their three-game weekend and came back to Boston on Tuesday.
That might be all we see for now out of DiPietro, though, as Marco Sturm mentioned getting Jeremy Swayman ready for this weekend after Thursday’s morning skate.
The Bruins practice on Friday, then hop on a flight to Pennsylvania. They will play a Saturday afternoon game against the Flyers (26-21-11), who currently sit eight points behind the Bruins.