The Bruins’ cornucopia of targets from Saturday changed into a barren wasteland of squandered alternatives on Sunday.
However whereas a lot of the skaters had not more than their C-games, Joonas Korpisalo earned an A plus, stopping all 27 photographs he confronted from the Pittsburgh Penguins, nailing down two vital factors for the B’s with a 1-0 victory at TD Backyard.
After notching 10 targets in opposition to the Rangers on Saturday, the palms had been nowhere to be discovered on Sunday.
“Yeah, I hoped we’d avoid wasting targets for right now and we did — one,” mentioned a smiling Korpisalo, whose shutout was the B’s first of the 12 months. “That was a superb effort right now.”
Korpisalo, who had seemingly misplaced a number of the teaching employees’s confidence just a few weeks in the past, has it again now. In his final two begins, he’s allowed only one purpose within the two wins.
“I feel his final recreation (a win over Calgary) actually helped, not for his confidence but additionally basically for our group,” mentioned coach Marco Sturm. “There’s no dangerous factor about placing him in web to consider, like what are we going to get tonight? He’s been superb these days and he confirmed it once more right now. A recreation like right now just isn’t straightforward. I feel we noticed two drained groups on the market and we would have liked the goalie. And that’s what we had right now.”
The B’s are actually 3-0 on their homestand and, with Sunday’s win, they jumped a degree forward of the Pens within the Japanese Convention standings.
The B’s clung to a 1-0 lead from the 11:00 mark of the primary interval on and that was all they wanted.
It wasn’t fairly. That they had five-plus energy performs, however managed solely two photographs on the benefits.
The Bruins managed to take a 1-0 lead into the primary intermission, however they may have accomplished much more harm. They weren’t as crisp as they had been within the 10-2 drubbing of the Rangers, nor had been the Penguins as cooperative because the Blueshirts had been on Saturday.
Regardless of being given three energy performs within the first, the B’s weren’t good in any respect on the person benefit.
In the meantime, Korpisalo needed to be good within the first and he was, turning away all 10 photographs. At one level, Egor Chinakhov had a clear break in off the best wing that Korpisalo stopped after which absorbed Chinakhov crashing into him. Nikita Zadorov moderately comically grabbed Chinakhov by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out of the web.
The B’s, who had an earlier Sean Kuraly purpose rightly waved off after the centerman had punched the puck into the web, did get on the board on the 11-minute mark. Viktor Arvidsson had been within the thick of the whole lot within the first two video games of the homestand, however had not been rewarded with a tally. He labored his means into the purpose column on Sunday.
Arvidsson, who has missed time with a tender tissue harm, seems way more just like the “weasel,” as Sturm affectionately known as him in coaching camp. He’s bought seven factors in six video games.
“I feel I’m totally wholesome in getting back from my harm that I had. I’m feeling good and my legs really feel good. As a line I feel we’re enjoying nice and taking good care of the D-zone and creating offense, too,” mentioned Arvidsson.
Sturm sees it as properly.
“Figuring out Arvy for a very long time now, what we’re seeing proper now, that’s the Arvy I do know,” mentioned Sturm. “Particularly after this harm when he got here again, even for just a few weeks, he was not the identical. So I’m glad he discovered his recreation again. He’s laborious to play in opposition to, he goes to the robust areas, even together with his measurement.”
Henri Jokiharju landed a shot from the blue line that produced a rebound. Arvidsson merely out-battled Erik Karlsson for the puck and slipped a backhander underneath Stuart Skinner for his ninth of the 12 months.
The missed alternatives continued to pile up within the second interval. The B’s bought two extra energy performs within the first half of the interval and weren’t in a position to do something with them. They went with the second unit to begin the primary PP of the interval, however that bore no fruit both.
The Penguins lastly bought an influence play of their very own when Mark Kastelic was known as for goalie interference when each he and Skinner went as much as seize an airborne puck and there was contact. It wasn’t a terrific name, however you knew one was coming in opposition to the B’s quickly. However they had been in a position to kill it off after which survive a protracted shift inside their zone after the kill to protect the slim lead.
The final 5 minutes of the interval belonged to Korpisalo, who was terrific in defending that lead. He made two straight saves on Sidney Crosby and his lethal backhand, the primary one from the slot and the second from the aspect of the web with a complete lot of twine for the Penguin captain till Korpisalo’s glove got here out of nowhere to knock away the puck.
“He’s bought one of many elite backhanders in the entire league. He bought a pair rebounds out of it, too, so that you simply attempt to scramble and do one thing to forestall the puck from stepping into,” mentioned Korpisalo.
Then within the waning seconds of the center interval, Tommy Novak was on their own within the slot however Korpisalo gave him nothing.
The sport, nevertheless, was not trending in favor of the B’s. The Penguins outshot them 10-4 within the second and, within the few possibilities he noticed within the interval, Skinner appeared locked in as properly.
The Pens outshot the B’s 7-4 within the third interval as properly, however the B’s had been in a position to grind out the victory.
