The Boston Bruins didn’t get much time to enjoy Friday night’s 4-3 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets. Less than 24 hours later, they were back on the ice in Minnesota, and this time the night ended with a 3-1 loss to the Wild in their home opener.
It was a familiar problem for Boston. The Bruins entered the third period trailing 2-1, just as they had the night before against Winnipeg.
But unlike Friday, they couldn’t find the equalizer. Jared Spurgeon added an insurance goal in the third period, and Minnesota finished off Boston’s first loss of the 2026-27 season.
A second-period trip to the penalty box turned into a hole the Bruins couldn’t climb out of. Casey Mittlestadt was called for interference, and Minnesota cashed in on the power play.
The Bruins then got hit with another stretch of penalties when Nikita Zadorov took a minor and, seconds later, Connor Clifton was whistled for tripping. Boston came close to killing both, but Quinn Hughes buried the second power-play goal of the period to flip a 1-0 Bruins lead into a 2-1 deficit after 40 minutes.
The other issue was simple: Boston stopped shooting. The Bruins fired the first eight shots on net, including Tanner Jeannot’s first goal of the season, but after that they leaned too hard on extra passes.
Too many odd-man rushes ended without a puck going to the net, and even when David Pastrnak worked into the slot, he chose the pass instead of the shot. Jeannot showed the value of getting pucks and bodies to the net.
Boston’s top players did not carry that same mentality, and Minnesota did.
There’s also the travel pattern itself, and the Bruins know it well. The Winnipeg-Minnesota road swing keeps showing up early in the season, and this year it came immediately as Boston’s first two road games. Winnipeg is no longer the Presidents’ Trophy team it was two years ago, but Minnesota is a tougher ask, especially when the Wild are rested and Boston is on the back end of a back-to-back.
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Bruins Hot Start Faces Its First Real Test In Net
The Bruins quick start now gets an early wrinkle in goal, with Michael DiPietro set to make his first start for Boston against the Wild. Marco Sturm made the call after DiPietro turned heads with his work in the minors and in preseason, giving the organization a chance to see how the depth chart holds up when the schedule starts to squeeze a little tighter.
Jeremy Swayman will get the night off after starting Fridays overtime win, and the rest of the lineup is expected to stay intact. For a team trying to keep momentum rolling, this is the kind of game that can say a lot about the Bruins goaltending picture without changing much else around it. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins First Loss Exposed An Early Problem They Couldnt Overcome
The Bruins first loss of the season arrived on the second night of a back-to-back, and it came with a familiar warning sign attached. Boston held up well at even strength against Minnesota, but special teams tilted the game the wrong way, turning a competitive night into a 3-1 defeat.
Michael DiPietro made his first start for Boston and gave the team a chance with 26 saves, but the Bruins could not find a way to cash in when the game tilted toward special teams play. Penalties became the difference, and for a team trying to establish its early-season identity, the margin for error quickly disappeared. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Road Trip Exposed One Encouraging Sign And One Familiar Problem
A split road trip through Winnipeg and Minnesota gave the Bruins a little of everything, including one result they could build on and another that looked far too familiar. Boston edged the Jets 4-3 in overtime before coming up short in a 4-1 loss to the Wild, and the trip still managed to produce a meaningful milestone for James Hagens, who scored his first NHL goal along the way. JJ Peterka also continued his early-season impact, adding two important goals as Boston tried to find some rhythm away from home.
The bigger concern, though, was the same one that has shadowed too many Bruins stretches already. The power play again failed to cash in, and penalties opened the door for Minnesota to score with the man advantage, undercutting a solid effort from Michael DiPietro in his first start against the Wild. For a team still sorting out its identity early in the season, the trip offered a reminder that the Bruins can create positive moments, but they still have to clean up the details that keep flipping games away from them. [Read more 🡒]