The Bruins were staring at a third straight loss late Saturday afternoon, and the script looked ugly. Down 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden after back-to-back road defeats in which they scored just one goal apiece against the Carolina Hurricanes and St. Louis Blues, Boston was in danger of walking out with another flat result.
Instead, the Bruins clawed back. Mason Lohrei sparked the comeback, Morgan Geekie tied it with 10 seconds left in regulation, and Elias Lindholm finished it off with the overtime winner in a 5-4 Boston victory.
Afterward, Lindholm went on the NESN postgame show with Adam Pellerin and made clear where he thought the game turned.
"Wasn't pretty, but big two points,'' said Lindholm. "(DiPietro) was just there to save us... he got those two points.''
That was putting it mildly.
Michael DiPietro was the difference for Boston, even if his name didn’t land among the three stars. The Bruins did not play a clean game for most of the afternoon, and for long stretches they were hanging on by their fingertips. DiPietro kept them alive anyway.
The goalie stopped 37 shots in all, including 13 in the first period, 13 in the second, eight in the third and three more in overtime. His biggest work came in the extra frame, where he made two key saves to give Lindholm the opening to end it.
DiPietro’s chance in Boston has come after a strong run with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League and after general manager Don Sweeney traded backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers. Against Chicago, he looked every bit like a goalie ready to seize the moment, even while allowing four goals.
Through the first 15 games, goaltending has been the Bruins’ steadying force. In their four regulation losses, they’ve scored just one goal each time, and in their overtime loss to the Dallas Stars they managed only two. Saturday fit that pattern for a while, but DiPietro gave Boston the chance to escape with two points.
He and Jeremy Swayman are giving the Bruins a pretty solid tandem in net.
In Other News...
Morgan Geekie May Have Finally Found The Jolt Bruins Needed
Morgan Geekie gave the Bruins exactly the kind of late spark they have been searching for, coming through in a tense finish against the Chicago Blackhawks. His game-tying goal in the final seconds helped Boston extend the night into overtime, where the Bruins finished the job and walked away with a much-needed win.
For Geekie, the moment carried extra weight because his start to the season had been quiet, with offense hard to come by through the opening stretch. Bruins coach Marco Sturm spoke positively about the goal afterward and said he hoped it would help Geekie regain some confidence, which is the kind of lift Boston could use from a player looking to reset his rhythm. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Have A Growing Nikita Zadorov Problem Again
Nikita Zadorovs latest brush with the league discipline office has put the Bruins back in a familiar spot, with one of their biggest defensemen again drawing attention for the wrong reason. The incident came Oct. 31 against Chicago, when Zadorov got involved after a scrum and ended up punching Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic in the second period, a sequence that left Boston dealing with the fallout from a roughing call and a misconduct.
Marco Sturm has already addressed the issue as a matter of discipline and expectation, which is where the conversation now shifts for the Bruins. Zadorovs physical edge is part of what makes him useful, but Boston needs that edge to stay on the right side of the line, especially when a game gets chippy and emotions start to spill over. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Could Use Pavel Zachas Surge For A Bigger Center Fix
Pavel Zachas recent uptick in offense has given the Bruins something useful to work with after a slow start, especially with the way he has fit alongside David Pastrnak. For a team still searching for more stability down the middle, any sign that Zacha can tilt the ice more consistently is worth noting, even if the larger questions around his overall game have not gone away.
The Bruins still have to decide whether this is a genuine turning point or simply a stretch that could help them in a bigger move. Zachas scoring has reopened the conversation about his value, and with center help still a priority, Boston may have more to weigh than just what he is producing right now. [Read more 🡒]