Minten Secures 4-3 OT Win for Bruins in Home Opener

BOSTON –– Fraser Minten hurtled down the right side with the puck on his stick.

The 21-year-old forward’s ensuing snapshot lasered into the back of the net and secured the Boston Bruins’ 4-3 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night at TD Garden.​

“I assumed they’d be in a little deep, so just get some steps and then there’s always room in OT to shoot and make plays like that,” Minten said.

Minten, who was traded to Boston in March, made sure to reintroduce himself to the crowd of Black & Gold during the team’s home opener. His first goal of the season improved the Bruins to a 2-0-0 record to start the year.​

“He’s a really good kid,” Elias Lindholm said of Minten. “Has a lot of respect for the game and for his teammates. He’s a good kid, and we love to see him do well.”

Before Minten played hero, Casey Mittelstadt gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the opening frame. Viktor Arvidsson carried the puck into the zone and looped behind the net before popping it up to Mittelstadt to knock it in from the crease at 3:53 of the first period. Mittelstadt and Arvidsson were on the second line with Pavel Zacha.

The Blackhawks found the 1-1 equalizer at 8:19 thanks to a slapshot from Connor Bedard. Louis Crevier gave his team the 2-1 advantage to open the second period.

Tanner Jeannot scored his first goal as a Bruin to tie things 2-2. The forward – who signed a five-year deal with Boston in July – earned net-front positioning and dumped in the rebound of Mikey Eyssimont’s shot at 9:10. With the assist, Eyssimont logged his first point with the B’s, too.

“I think it was just everyone coming together. Not every game is going to be pretty. Even last night was the same kind of thing,” Jeannot said. “But everyone just comes together and does the job, gets the job done when they need to do it. We know this year is going to be a lot of team efforts, and I was really proud of the guys for coming together and pulling off that win tonight.”

​Jeannot has started the season on the third line with Minten and Eyssimont.

“They’re very simple. They like to grind, they like to work,” head coach Marco Sturm said of the trio. “Defensively responsible. Killers for me. They do exactly what I want from a third line. That’s it.”

Lindholm struck on the power play for the second time in two games to put the Bruins up 3-2 in the opening minute of the third. Zacha dished the puck across to Lindholm on the left doorstep to push past goalie Arvid Soderblom.

Andre Burakovsky knotted the game 3-3 at 2:22, which ultimately forced overtime; however, Minten’s tally at 2:12 of the extra period staved off the Blackhawks and kept the Bruins in the win column.

​Joonas Korpisalo got his first start of the year after Jeremy Swayman put up 35 saves in Wednesday’s win in Washington. The goaltender stood tall in OT and made a total of 21 stops on 24 shots.​

“Those kinds of wins are important for us,” Sturm said. “Our body language is important. Our having life on the bench, feeding off the crowd is important. That’s what I remember about the Boston Bruins, and that’s what we need now.”

After the game, Sturm added that Hampus Lindholm – who left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return – suffered "just a minor injury, not related to his old injury. We just wanted to make sure he will be OK. He's gonna get tested [on Friday] and then we'll see."

The Bruins’ next game is on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden.