The Boston Bruins need the whole team to step up, top-to-bottom, to turn around their early-season struggles. Fortunately, they got a big-time game from their forwards, defense, and goaltending, in a virtual full-squad effort on Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
This game showed what the Bruins are capable of doing when they do what captain Brad Marchand has termed playing “the right way.” They kept their feet moving, won small battles, made good and quick decisions with the puck, gained clean breakouts, kept pucks deep, and finished key opportunities. And in goal, Joonas Korpisalo kept it simple by simply stopping every puck that came his way.
It will be challenging for the Bruins to maintain that kind of effort against better teams than the Flyers, who slipped to 4-7-1 on the season with the loss. But they can certainly control their effort level and consistency, the second of which was a welcome sight for the team as they mostly carried their execution over from period to period on Saturday.
Now, the question is whether they can carry Saturday’s performance over to the next game and beyond. The Bruins have struggled to string good games together, and travelling back to Boston for the second leg of a back-to-back on Sunday against the Seattle Kraken will present a nice test for them to do that.
But for now, they can enjoy a much-needed victory and turn the page on what’s been a trying start to the season.
Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars from a rebound win in Philadelphiaβ¦
Third Star: Hampus Lindholm
Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (Kyle Ross-Imagn Images)
Hampus Lindholm has been the Bruins’ best, most consistent all-around defenseman so far this season, and that continued on Saturday. Lindholm backed up his recent comments about the Bruins needing to play faster and more confidently with the puck on their sticks, as he consistently made things happen for the B’s when in possession, especially at the offensive end. Only his linemate, Brandon Carlo, had a better on-ice shot attempt rate at 5-on-5 (63.6%) among Bruins defensemen, as Lindholm finished at 63.3%.
It was Lindholm, however, that cashed in on offense. He helped the Bruins break the scoreless tie when he fired the puck through traffic and off the end boards toward Matthew Poitras, who gathered the loose puck down by the goal line and shovel it through Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov.
In addition to generating opportunities on offense through Lindholm’s decisive puck-moving, the Bruins allowed a team-low 11 shot attempts with him on the ice at 5-on-5. Lindholm has played himself into a top-pairing role with the way he’s performed, and it was good for the team to see No. 27 rewarded for playing the way they need.
Second Star: Joonas Korpisalo
Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo (Kyle Ross-Imagn Images)
Considering the relatively low volume of shots that landed on goal, and only six high-danger chances overall for the Flyers, Joonas Korpisalo reasonably couldn’t allow more than one goal on Saturday, which would’ve amounted to a .950 save percentage. But instead, he batted 1.000, turning aside all 20 Flyers shots for his first shutout since April 10, 2023, when he played for the Los Angeles Kings.
That was two teams ago for Korpisalo, who in theory landed in one of the best possible situations for a veteran goaltender when he came to Boston in the Linus Ullmark trade. Though he’s been hit-or-miss in totality, he’s now turned in two straight A’s on the eye test in his starting opportunities (he entered Thursday’s loss to the Hurricanes after they chased starter Jeremy Swayman).
It wasn’t the hardest day at the office for Korpisalo, but he deserves credit for coming up with saves at key moments in the game. He made two saves against the Flyers power play, and another highlight-reel stop on Morgan Frost late in the second period (watch above). Six of his 20 saves came with the Bruins protecting a 1-0 lead, including four stops during an early-second-period surge by the Flyers.
Just like the rest of the team, it would be nice for the Bruins to get this kind of game against better teams from the goaltenders. But Korpisalo has looked good lately.
First Star: Brad Marchand
Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (Kyle Ross-Imagn Images)
It’s common, if preferable, for a hockey team to feed off the energy of its captain. So the performance of Brad Marchand carries extra weight, means a little more. In retrospect, it’s no surprise that when the captain was cookin’, so was the rest of the roster.
Marchand looked as effective as he has all season with the puck on his stick in Saturday’s win, coming away with a goal and assist. He made one of the best individual plays of the game to protect the puck as he carried around the back of the Flyers net, then feed Justin Brazeau low-to-high for an insurance goal in the second period. The play exemplifed the Bruins’ need to play faster, tougher, simpler, especially when they’re on the attack.
The game already felt well in control near the end of regulation when Marchand launched a Hail Mary and connected for an empty-net goal. But it was a well-earned and deserved tally for the captain, who despite his age and status coming off multiple off-season surgeries still needs to be one of Boston’s best, most impactful players when on the ice.
It was promising for a reeling team to see No. 63 making things happen as consistently and as often as he did on Saturday.
