Joonas Korpisalo has had limited opportunities to play this year for the Boston Bruins, especially lately.
But whenever he has gotten a chance to stand between the posts, the Bruins have, more often than not, won, and, more often than not, he’s been the reason why.
Such was the case on Saturday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena, where Korpisalo put an end to Boston’s five-game losing skid in a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“Outstanding,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said of Korpisalo’s performance. “We couldn’t have asked for a better effort for him coming in there today. He gave us a chance to win all day.”
Despite making his first start in over three weeks, Korpisalo showed no signs of rust as he stopped 29 of 31 Penguin shots. He carried a shutout deep into the third period and only lost it when Boston’s power play unit gave up a shorthanded chance that Anthony Beauvillier buried with 5:59 left to play.
“It’s not easy,” said Korpisalo. “I haven’t seen game time in a while. I just tried to go out there and have fun and do my best. That was easy for me because everyone else did it, too.”
Game Grades:
The Bruins: C
The Bruins jumped out to a fast 2-0 lead in the first period, but it was all downhill from there. They had several grade-A chances to add to their advantage but could not solve Penguins netminder Alex Nedjelkovic after the first period.
Joonas Korpisalo: A+
Korpisalo was the reason the Bruins won this game, plain and simple, giving them the kind of lockdown goaltending they’ve needed and, for the most part, lacked all season.
Penalty Kill: A+
Korpisalo, and therefore the Bruins, wouldn’t have survived this game if not for the effort by Boston’s shorthanded unit.
The penalty kill was called upon seven times in the game and killed off all but one shorthanded situation. Even then, the one power-play the Bruins surrendered came with less than 30 seconds left to play while they already had a two-goal lead.
Special shout out to Brandon Carlo and Nikita Zadorvo, who each logged heavy minutes in the defensive end to help preserve Boston’s lead.
David Pastrnak: A
David Pastrnak got the Bruins on the board first just 92 seconds into the game. He also assisted on Mason Lohrei’s power-play goal later on in the first period.
At this point, there’s not much more I can say about Pastrnak after he extended his current point streak to 17 games, so I’ll let Lohrei do it.
“He’s such a threat, both as a playmaker and with his shot,” Lohrei said. “When he gets the puck coming downhill, you can count the amount options he can make. He makes a different play every time. He’s a special player.”
Cole Koepke: B
There were a few other players who had a more direct impact on this game than Cole Koepke. But I rarely have a reason to talk about Cole Koepke, so you best believe I’m going to talk about Cole Koepke.
Although he didn’t find the back of the net, Koepke had a team-high six shot attempts in the game. Five of which landed on goal, with one ringing off the crossbar like a Pittsburgh steelworker striking an I-beam.
He did take a costly double minor penalty late in the third period that put the Bruins in a treacherous position of nearly blowing the game, but that was all forgiven when the clock struck zero with Boston still in the lead.
Georgii Merkulov: B-
Back up in the NHL, the young forward was thrust into an even bigger role than expected once Bruins captain Brad Marchand exited the game in the first period. Merkulov totaled 11:54 of time on ice and courageously stood in the way of 4 shots–the most of any skater on the ice.
