Bruins Postgame Takeaways: Escaping The Avalanche With A Win

The Boston Bruins narrowly escaped the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena but nevertheless kicked off their three-game road trip with a 5-3 win on Wednesday night.

Cole Koepke, Charlie Coyle, David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm, and Johnny Beecher all scored for Boston, while goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 22 saves on 25 shots.

Ross Colton, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen had the goals for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev tended the Colorado crease, making 20 saves on 24 shots.

But that’s just the box score. Here are the key takeaways from the night that was in the Mile High City.

Power Play Wakes Up:

The Bruins had begun to fall into a bit of a cold spell on the power play entering Wednesday’s action after failing to score on their 12 previous opportunities.

Against Colorado, Boston found some traction, scoring on two of their man-advantage chances.

With the game tied at one-all near the end of the first period, an Oliver Kylington holding penalty opened the door for Charlie Coyle to reclaim the lead for Boston off an excellent feed from Mason Lohrei.

David Pastrnak added to Boston’s lead midway through the second period, scoring his fourth goal of the season with an assist from Hampus Lindholm while Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen watched from the penalty box.

Tufte Penalty Trouble:

As good as the Bruins were on the power play, they were just as poor on the penalty kill.

All three of Colorado’s goals in the game came with a member of the Bruins in the box, and twice, Riley Tufte was the one who was serving the punishment.

Just a minute after Cole Koepke opened the scoring for the Bruins in the first period, Tufte was called for a holding penalty. All it took was 19 seconds for Ross Colton to deposit the puck in the back of the net to even the score up at 1-1 on the man advantage.

Tufte was sent to the box once again early on in the third period for a cross-checking penalty. Mikko Rantanen was the one who drew the penalty and was also the one who scored the eventual goal that cut Boston’s lead to 4-3 with 15:08 left to play.

In a team-low 6:54 of time on ice, Tufte was of more use to Colorado than Boston. After getting back into the Bruins lineup on Wednesday, he did not make much of a case to remain.

Coyle Answers The Call:

Many were starting to become concerned with Charlie Coyle after he had failed to record a point through the first four games of the season.

Coyle calmed tensions when he drove to the net and scored his first goal of the season on the power play at 17:09 of the first period, thanks to an assist from Mason Lohrei.

Charlie Coyle finishes off Lohrei's beautiful pass to quickly restore the #NHLBruins lead 🔥 pic.twitter.com/C0GUozijs1

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) October 17, 2024

Bruins Lines:

Zacha – E. Lindholm – Pastrnak

Marchand – Coyle – Frederic

Tufte – Poitras – Jones

Beecher – Kastelic – Koepke

Lohrei – McAvoy

H. Lindholm – Carlo

Zadorov – Peeke

Korpisalo

Swayman

Up Next:

After improving to 3-2-0, the Bruins will have the next two days off before playing their next game in Salt Lake City, where they’ll meet the Utah Hockey Club for the first time ever. Puck drop on Saturday from Delta Center is slated for 9 p.m. EST.

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