Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

The Bruins may not be a great hockey team. We still don't know if they're even very good at all. But they can be an entertaining, if unconventional, watch right now. The B's, outshot 40-23 and held in the game by Joonas Korpisalo, coughed up a two-goal third period lead but pulled it out in overtime, beating the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Marat Khusnutdinov's OT goal, his first tally of the season.

For the first time in his Bruins career, Joonas Korpisalo received the starting nod in back-to-back games earlier this week against the Islanders and Sabres. Marco Sturm's decision to alter Boston's goalie rotation came after a road bout on Monday where Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins were shredded by Ottawa, 7-2. While Boston's head coach downplayed discourse over Korpisalo's increased reps, the timing was worth noting after Swayman labored on the road in a lopsided loss.

Our top guys were not the top guys again.

I mean, I am not happy. Guys are going to run me. I am going to try to stand up for myself. I heard the ref say we got a power play, and there really isn't much I can do to him on the ground. Kudos to the guys who were there and got down with him, but like I said, we have to start going to the cage a little harder and make it harder for their goalies.

We are about to discover a lot more about just who these Bruins are. The B's will begin a short but, likely, telling three-game road Thursday night in Las Vegas against a Golden Knights team that many see as poised to break the Edmonton Oilers' two-year run to the Stanley Cup Final. And if the Golden Knights can't do it, the B's opponent Saturday night, the Colorado Avalanche, have a good shot at it.

Ultimately, if the Bruins are middling and aren't staring at a potential playoff run, Boston likely wouldn't have to worry about burning Hagens' first year of team control. An 18/19-year-old player can avoid burning the first year of his entry-level deal by playing 10 or fewer games in his first pro season - allowing that contract to slide forward a year. So, if the Bruins are closing out the year without a playoff berth and Hagens is ready to go pro in late March/early April, Boston could give him 8-10 games to dip his toe in the water without worrying about his contract.

The B's had some brutal puck management issues to start the game that would contribute to a 2-0 deficit. Jake Guentzel created two turnovers that led to both goals. On the first one, the high-scoring winger picked Charlie McAvoy's pocket at the Boston blue line and the Bolts went on a quick counter-attack that resulted in an Anthony Cirelli tap-in off a Gage Goncalves pass just 1:09 into the game, Cirelli's first of two in the period.

The Bruins played their most dominant period of the season in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Sabres 17-2 - it felt like it was even more lopsided - but they managed just a 1-0 lead. The goal came on their 14th shot of the period at 15:48 and for the second time in as many games, it was the second line that gave the B's the first lead of the game.

One thing we've learned - or had confirmed - through two games of this Bruins season is that winning will rarely come easily for this team. It doesn't matter if they're playing a legitimate Eastern Conference contender on the road like the Washington Capitals or a young, up-and-coming-but-not-there-yet club like the Chicago Blackhawks. But what will make their life in the National Hockey League a little easier is if they get kind the kind of contributions throughout the lineup like they did in Thursday's home opener.

Forwards Matej Blumel and Alex Steeves, defenseman Jonathan Aspirot, and goalie Michael DiPietro were placed on waivers. All four cleared waivers and will report to Providence. The Bruins also assigned Matt Poitras to Providence, with the young center exempt from the waiver wire. Boston had until 5 p.m. on Monday to get their roster down to 23 players, with the Bruins seemingly settling all business a day earlier.

If the Bruins can replicate Saturday's dress rehearsal when the games start to count on Wednesday in Washington, they just might have a chance do something this season. In the final preseason game against the New York Rangers at TD Garden, the B's scored three times in the first two periods and then leaned on Jeremy Swayman (30 saves) to pick them up in the third to record the 4-1 victory.

There was no shortage of Bruins prospects on the ice in Friday's season opener between No. 6 Boston College and No. 13 Quinnipiac - with seven different skaters drafted by Boston taking to the ice at Conte Forum. The Eagles rolled out five different Bruins prospects - headlined by 2025 first-round pick (No. 7 overall) James Hagens. Joining Hagens as Bruins property on BC's roster were fellow pivots Will Moore (2025 second-round pick) and Dean Letourneau (2024 first-round pick) - as well as wingers Oskar Jellvik (2021 fifth-round pick) and Andre Gasseau (2021 seventh-round pick).