If you look at the box score of the game, the Boston Bruins really should have come out on the losing end of their clash with the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on Thursday night.
Boston was outshot 40-22 by Buffalo, lost their number one center when Elias Lindholm needed help getting off the ice after a collision at center ice with Jordan Greenway and the Black and Gold blew a two-goal lead in the third period. Joonas Korpisalo, in his second straight start, had to make a season-high 37 saves to keep Boston in the game.
With the game knotted 3-3 in overtime, Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov and Hampus Lindholm were in the defensive zone when Rasmus Dahlin lost his footing and the puck. Minten was in the right place at the right time and the trio took off up ice for a three-on-one rush.
Khusnutdinov, who took Minten’s clean pass behind the defensive blue line, carried the puck into the offensive zone, waited out Alex Lyon and snapped the game-winner glove side.
“It’s unbelievable for me. First game on the first line. First goal of the season,” Khusnutdinov told reporters after the win, per team-provided audio. “It’s great for the team, great for me.”
Morgan Geekie, David Pastrnak and Mark Kastelic also scored for the Bruins, who have rallied back to just one game below .500 at 6-7-0. Even with the two-game winning streak, the B’s know they have to keep fighting for every point in this league.
“There’s something to build off,” Nikita Zadorov said. “It’s too early to say. We’re still under .500. We’re still not in a playoff spot. There’s a lot to build up, for sure.”
Here are more notes from Boston’s overtime thriller:
— Elias Lindholm left the ice with 12:40 remaining in the second period and did not return for the third or overtime. He was helped to his feet and off the ice with assistance from Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm.
After the game, head coach Marco Sturm did not disclose any information regarding the center’s status.
“Any time you have to help him off the ice, it’s usually not a good sign,” Sturm said postgame, per team-provided audio.
Sturm added he had not had the opportunity to see the replay of the injury and, the club would reassess his status and hopefully provide an update on Friday.
— With back-to-back wins with Korpisalo in net, the first-year bench coach will be tasked with whether or not to ride the hot goaltender or to go back to its No. 1, Jeremy Swayman.
“I don’t know … really don’t know. I can’t answer that right now,” Sturm said. “At the start of the season, I would say no, just because we have so many games coming up … and we have the luxury to have two really good goaltenders, so I am not sure yet.”
— Morgan Geekie extended his scoring streak to six games. He has lit the lamp seven times in that span. Geekie became the sixth Bruins player with multiple goal streaks of at least six games. He joined Cam Neely and Phil Esposito, who did it three times, along with Barry Pederson, Johnny Bucyk and Ken Hodge, who had multiple goals streaks in six games twice in their careers, per NHL stats.
— Boston challenged the Sabres’ third-period goal that sent the game to overtime. On the play, Henri Jokiharju made contact with Korpisalo which prevented the goalie from resetting in the crease. The Bruins argued that Josh Doan pushed Jokiharju into his own goaltender. Sturm’s challenge was overruled and the goal stood.
“Things happen really fast. We have to 20 to 30 seconds. All of us are involved and I trust the whole group,” Sturm said of the failed challenge. “We thought it was the right call to do. I just looked at it again and I’d do again.”
— The club provided a medical update on defenseman Jordan Harris before the game, and revealed the Haverhill native will be on the shelf for months.
In a statement released by Bruins’ head team physician Dr. Peter Asnis, Harris suffered a right ankle fracture during Boston’s loss to the Florida Panthers on Oct. 21 — undergoing a successful open reduction and internal fixation procedure at Mass General Brigham on Monday.
— The Bruins will be back on TD Garden ice on Saturday when they host the Carolina Hurricanes for a matinee matchup. Puck drop is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub.
More Bruins: Off the Post: Dominant Second Period Lifts Bruins Past Islanders
Troiani Rink Report 
Leave a comment