Korpisalo Makes 36 Saves in Bruins Win Over Blue Jackets

BOSTON –– The Boston Bruins gave TD Garden something to cheer about in their return to action on Thursday night.

The B’s beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 in their first game in three weeks due to the Olympic break. Viktor Arvidsson scored twice, and former Blue Jacket Joonas Korpisalo made 36 saves in the win.

“This was a big game regardless. I think they’re right behind us in the standings,” Korpisalo said. “Obviously, playing against Columbus, I spent eight years there, so it is always fun to play against them.”

​Columbus took a 1-0 lead at 4:32 with a snapshot from Kirill Marchenko, but the Bruins tied it in the latter half of the first period.​

Jonathan Aspirot dumped the puck into the offensive zone, and Arvidsson picked it up along the right boards, where he blasted one towards the net. Arvidsson’s shot deflected off a Blue Jacket in front and knotted things 1-1 at 15:51. It was the forward’s 15th goal of the season.

“Before he got hurt, if you remember, in Montreal, that game, he was outstanding. That’s exactly how he plays right now again,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “This is the [Arvidsson], why we like him. That’s why we wanted to get him this summer. He does so much for him and for his linemates."

​The second line of Arvidsson, Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha was reunited on Thursday. Zacha missed the last two games before the Olympic break due to an upper-body injury, but is ready to go for the B’s final stretch.

Korpisalo briefly left the game in the second period, and Michael DiPietro took over in net, making two saves in his 6:03 of playing time. DiPietro was recalled from Providence on an emergency basis on Tuesday. Jeremy Swayman did not dress on Thursday.

“Obviously, nerves and everything. Jitters. I’m just glad I didn’t screw it up. Made a couple of saves and held it down until Korpi was ready to go back in,” DiPietro said. “I think just being comfortable out there. I really like where my game’s at personally. For me, the comfort level and getting the reps in practice have been good the last couple of weeks.”

​Korpisalo soon returned and paced the Bruins to their 10th consecutive victory on home ice.

“He made a couple of game-changing saves,” said Sean Kuraly, who later scored the game-winner. “He was crucial to us winning this game. If he didn’t play like he did, it could've been a different story.”

Morgan Geekie put the Bruins ahead while on the power play in the second period. David Pastrnak swung the puck over to Geekie in the right circle, where he one-timed it past Columbus netminder Elvis Merzlikins at 6:54. It was Geekie’s team-leading 33rd goal of the season – and 11th on the man advantage, another team high. It also extended his point streak to nine games.​

“We’ve kind of been on the same page all year, in terms of predictability and kind of reading off each other,” Geekie said of the power play. “To get these points is huge. Especially to come out of the gate and get two points right away, and try to kind of get our legs out of the way in the first period there and close it out. Something to build on for sure, but we know we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Kuraly widened the gap in the final frame. The Ohio native – who spent the last four seasons with the Blue Jackets – unleashed a slapshot off the rush to make it 3-1 at 11:15. It was Kuraly’s fifth goal of the year; linemate Tanner Jeannot picked up the assist on the play.

​“You know what, usually when good things happen, I feel like I don’t even know what I’m doing,” Kuraly said. “Just kind of going with the flow.”

Columbus pulled within one, 3-2, at 13:45 with a tally from Adam Fantilli, but Arvidsson’s second of the night – this time an empty-netter at 19:27 – secured the 4-2 win for Boston.

“Overall, again, guys are very confident right now. It’s a confident group,” Sturm said. “That means it’s a calm bench, there’s no chaos, there’s no panic. Even when it’s a 3-2 hockey game, we trust each other, we trust our goalies, we trust the guys on the ice.”

The Bruins are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they face the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena.