ST. PAUL -- Michael DiPietro is finally getting his first turn in a Bruins sweater.
Boston will hand the 27-year-old goaltender the start Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild, with puck drop set for 8 p.m. ET at Grand Casino Arena. It will be DiPietro’s first game as a Boston Bruin since joining the organization in October 2022.
Head coach Marco Sturm said the move had been building for a while.
“Not really a surprise. I got to know him a little bit last year.
He came in; a very focused kid. Works extremely hard,” Sturm said.
“He showed the last couple years how well he played in the minors. I think it was just a matter of time and timing.
I think it’s the right time right now for him.”
DiPietro earned his spot out of training camp for the first time since the trade, after spending the past three seasons with Providence in the AHL. He’s won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the league’s most outstanding goaltender in each of the last two seasons, and last year he put up a 1.91 goals-against average with a .930 save percentage over 45 games.
Jeremy Swayman will get the night off after making 30 saves in Boston’s 4-3 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. With this game coming on the second night of a back-to-back and the Bruins also traveling, Sturm said the decision was about the schedule as much as anything else.
“It’s a back-to-back, it’s traveling and we play again in 48 hours. There’s a lot to it,” Sturm said of the goalie decision.
“I think Sway was unbelievable the first few games. We feel really, really comfortable with Mikey stepping in.
He’s been great in preseason, and he should be good tonight."
Boston is wrapping up the second night of a back-to-back on its first road trip of the season, and the Bruins enter Saturday at 2-0-0. Sturm said there would be no other lineup changes beyond DiPietro in net.
Even with the fresh face in goal, the message to the room was simple.
“I think we just have to make sure we are going to help him out,” Sturm said. “I will mention to my guys, and I just did, that we all have to help him out, too…We’ve just got to play together and help each other out.”
In Other News...
Bruins First Loss Exposed An Early Problem They Can't Keep Feeding
After opening the season with a spirited overtime win in Winnipeg, the Bruins ran into a much less forgiving night in their home opener against Minnesota. Boston had the kind of early lead it wanted, but the game quickly shifted once the second period got messy, with the Wild taking advantage of the Bruins discipline issues and turning a competitive start into a far tougher ask.
The larger concern for Boston is that the problems were not limited to the scoreboard. Shot selection and offensive execution were off, and in a back-to-back stretch like this, those details can decide whether a team grinds out points or hands them away. The Bruins have already shown they can win on energy and resilience, but their first loss of the season also served as a reminder that they cannot keep feeding opponents easy chances. [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 🡒]