Bruins win Joe Sacco’s first game by 1-0 final over Utah
The Boston Bruins are off to a positive start under interim head coach Joe Sacco.
Boston came away with a narrow 1-0 victory over the Utah Hockey Club at TD Garden on Thursday night, as goaltender Joonas Korpisalo turned aside all 21 Utah shots to improve to 4-2-1 on the season.
The Bruins out-shot Utah 15-5 in the first period, mostly on the strength of three power play opportunities. But the teams ended up scoreless through 20 minutes, and tied 7-7 in scoring chances at five-on-five.
However, the dam finally broke for the Bruins in the second period, past the halfway point of the game. Elias Lindholm tucked in an open-net rebound on a power play for his third goal of the season, and his first since Oct. 12.
In a series of events that no doubt excited old-time Bruins fans, forward Mark Kastelic dropped the gloves and fought defenseman Robert Bortuzzo – twice. It’s fair to call the series a 1-1 draw. Here’s round one:
And round two:
The Bruins held on in the third period, despite a late push by Utah. Brad Marchand drew a penalty with under two minutes to go in regulation to help the Bruins put a stranglehold on the contest. David Pastrnak momentarily thought he’d potted an empty-netter with 1:01 left, but the officials overturned the goal due to a high-stick.
The B’s are back to .500 with the win, at 9-9-3 on the season.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
