The Bruins spent most of Friday night chasing Winnipeg, then turned the game on its head in the final minutes and walked out of Canada Life Centre with a 4-3 overtime win.
Elias Lindholm tied it late in regulation, JJ Peterka finished it in overtime at 3:21, and Boston kept its start spotless at 2-0-0. Peterka’s unassisted goal capped a comeback that also featured a goal from rookie James Hagens and scoring from four different Bruins players overall.
It was a much different kind of victory than Boston’s season-opening shutout of the Rangers. This one had swings, pressure, and a finish that arrived only after the Bruins had been pushed right to the edge.
Winnipeg looked ready to take control after Mario Ferraro scored with 12 seconds left in the second period, giving the Jets a 3-2 lead heading into the third. Boston had already matched Winnipeg twice by then, but that late second-period strike put the Bruins in a hole they had to climb out of.
They did it through Lindholm, who came through at 18:22 of the third for his first goal of the season. David Pastrnak and Mason Lohrei picked up the assists, and the goal gave Boston the opening it needed after Winnipeg had spent most of the period protecting its lead. Lindholm also finished with five shots, tied with Peterka for the team high among Bruins skaters.
Overtime nearly turned the other way before Peterka ended it. Kyle Connor rang one off the left post at 1:12, and Jeremy Swayman then stopped back-to-back Josh Morrissey shots just over a minute later. Boston survived that scare, then converted its own chance when Peterka buried the winner for his second goal of the season.
The game had started with Winnipeg striking first. Dylan DeMelo scored at 4:52 of the opening period, with Morgan Barron and Adam Lowry assisting.
Boston answered at 9:23 when Hampus Lindholm scored his first goal of the season off feeds from Morgan Geekie and Will Borgen. Then Hagens gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 15:20, scoring his first NHL regular-season goal with assists from Nikita Zadorov and Mark Kastelic.
The Jets quickly reset the tone after intermission. Connor scored on the power play at 1:50 of the second period, with Gabriel Vilardi and Cole Perfetti assisting, and Ferraro’s late goal, set up by Lowry and Connor, flipped the lead back to Winnipeg before the third-period rally.
Boston had to dig for this one, and eventually it found enough answers. The Bruins’ first two wins have come in very different ways, but both ended with the same result: two points.
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