The Boston Bruins are off to an impressive start under new coach Marco Strum.
Beginning with a gritty road win over the Washington Capitals, followed by an overtime thriller, the Black and Gold are one of four teams with two wins to start the season — the Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers are the other three.
With the 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night, the Bruins improved to 10-0-0 in each of their past 10 home openers, which is tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Capitals for the second-longest streak in NHL history behind the Montreal Canadiens, who have 11.
“We all wanted to do well, but it turns out it was not the flow we probably wanted. All of a sudden, we got into a little bit of a grinding game,” Sturm said after Thursday’s victory, per team-provided audio. “Those are the games you have to win. (… )Those grinding games will help bring us together as a team.”
Sturm also offered an update on the “minor” injury that forced Hampus Lindholm to exit the Bruins’ home-opener.
“It’s not related to his old injury. We just want to make sure,” Sturm told reporters following the overtime win, per team-provided audio. “(…) We just have to make sure we’re going to be smart.
“With any of our big guys, we need them for the long run. It sounds like it’s not too bad, but we’ll see (Friday).”
Here are some notes from Boston’s first two games of the 2025-26 season:
— Goaltending has been outstanding in the first two games for the Black and Gold.
Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves in his win over the Capitals, and Joonas Korpisalo turned away 21 Blackhawks shots in his season debut, including some brilliant saves in the overtime period.
“We had no business coming out the winner in OT,” Sturm said after the game. “But we did because of him.”
Korpisalo’s teammates echoed their coach’s thoughts after watching the 31-year-old netminder come up big in the extra frame.
“That was probably the best saves I’ve ever seen in person, the stick save; but the (glove save) was good too,” Casey Mittelstadt told reporters, per team-provided audio. “If he doesn’t make the save there, it’s over and we’re having a different conversation.”
“That save by Korpi was one of the best saves I’ve ever seen,” Jeannot said. “That was just insane.”
“I think everyone stood up in the whole rink, and the one save with the paddle there was one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Elias Lindholm added. “It’s huge. Obviously when stuff like that happened, you obviously want to win the game for him, and we did.”
— The Bruins have seven goals from six different players — David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm (2), Casey Mittelstadt, Tanner Jeannot and Fraser Minten.
— Elias Lindholm has 21 points — nine goals and 12 assists — in his last 27 games dating back to the return from the 4 Nations Face-off. His two goals this season came on the power play.
— Special teams have been a strong suit for Boston, which wasn’t the case in the 2024-25 campaign.
After ranking 24th in the league last season on the penalty kill, the Bruins have successfully prevented their opponents from scoring on eight short-handed situations this season. And similar to the penalty kill, the B’s ranked near the bottom of the cellar — 29 of 32 teams — last season. So far, they have two tallies in the seven opportunities on the man-advantage in two games.
— The Bruins will be back on TD Garden ice Saturday when they host the Buffalo Sabres. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on NESN.
More Bruins: Boston knocks off Chicago in an overtime thriller
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