Bruins Postgame Takeaways: All Systems Joe in Utah Shutout

BOSTON – Elias Lindholm didn’t let his new head coach down. 

The Bruins center scored the game-winning goal in the second period, as Boston (9-9-3) shutout the Utah Hockey Club, 1-0, Thursday at TD Garden. 

Joonas Korpisalo held the fort. The Bruins netminder made 21 saves en route to his second shutout of the season. 

The victory was extra special for coach Joe Sacco, a longtime Bruins assistant coach, who was promoted to interim head coach, following the firing of Jim Montgomery on Tuesday.

“It feels pretty good,” said Sacco. “I’m not going to lie to you. To get our guys to get a win was even more important. They feel better about themselves. I think how we went about the game tonight with a business-like approach. We had a couple of individuals that really brought some energy to our group to lift the bench at certain moments during the game.“

It wasn’t easy, it was hard as hell. Both teams were held scoreless for much of the first two periods, with the Bruins landing its first shot over 6:00 into the contest. And when their first power play unit of Lindholm, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Georgii Merkulov and Charlie McAvoy, failed to generate any pressure on the man-advantage, the boo birds in the crowd began to resurface.

The second power play unit helped pick up the slack with several good looks. Charlie Coyle, Justin Brazeau, Morgan Geekie Pavel Zacha and Mason Lohrei, paced the attack with Boston outshooting Utah, 15-5 after the first period. 

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Deadlocked in a scoreless tie, Lindholm finally cracked goalie Karel Vajmelka’s (30 saves) stranglehold. The center took advantage of some pinpoint playmaking from Marchand and Pasternak, potting a power play goal off a wrist shot at 12:41 of the second period.

It was Lindholm’s first point in six games, and first goal in 17. He broke a long scoreless drought that lasted since the second game of the season, Oct. 12.  The Bruins are now 3-0 in games Elias Lindholm has scored in.

“It was great so see Lindy pop one in,” said Sacco. “You could see our guys excited for him on the bench.”

Although they went 1-for-6 on the power play, Sacco liked what he saw in terms of puck possession. Its another positive to build from.

“I think our layers were pretty good tonight,” said Sacco. “We still have to get better, but I thought defending the rush thru the neutral zone was pretty solid. Our D did a pretty good job of staying inside the dots, forcing plays to the outside. In our own offensive zone, we talked about protecting the goaltender more. We played hard in front of the goalie. Made it difficult in front of our opponent to get really inside quality slot looks.”

“Just a good effort all-around from our guys,” he added.  “They really dug in. We got obviously got some timely saves from Korpi when we needed them, especially towards the end. We were looking for the passion and the emotion. We saw that in our club tonight.”

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Not your ordinary Joe 

Shifting to the middle of the bench, Joe Sacco savored the moment.  

A Medford native, Sacco is currently in his 11th season behind the Bruins bench. He served under Montgomery as associate coach, holding the role of assistant coach from 2014-24. He took the head coaching reigns following the Bruins lackluster 8-9-3 start. 

The former Boston University Terrier served as head coach with the Colorado Avalanche for four seasons from 2009-10 to 2013-14. It was Sacco’s first NHL game as head coach since April 27, 2013, a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild. His last NHL head coaching win, a 5-4 shootout victory over the Phoenix Coyotes, came April 26, 2013.  Matt Duchene and PA Parenteau scored in the shootout, 2-0, for those scoring at home.

He kept his pregame routine pretty much the same, but opted to stay at Warrior Arena instead of heading home to prepare for the contest.

“I wanted to try to enjoy day and the night, because this was the first one,” said Sacco, who now sports a 131-134-30 career mark. “I wanted to make sure I remembered it.”

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Mark his words and fists  

Don’t expect Mark Kastelic to invite Robert Bortuzzo to Thanksgiving dinner.  

The pair exchanged pleasantries in a pair of spirited fights over the first two periods.

In round one, Bortuzzo literally jumped the Bruins center midway through the first period. The burly blueliner made a bee to the hulking center straight off the Utah bench. Both unloaded several heavy rights in an even tussle with Kastelic landing on top. Apparently, there was some unfinished business. The two squared off yet again in the second period.  Kastelic took exception to an open-ice hit, hammering Bortuzzo with a plethora of roundhouse rights in a decisive win.

That second bout had more haymakers than Mike Tyson’s Netflicks fiasco with Jake Paul. 

Sacco felt Kastelic helped set the tone. 

“He brought a spark to our group tonight,” said Sacco. “He showed that he was ready to play. There were a number of guys that did, but he jumps out at me.”

Bruins Lines

Morgan Geekie – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak

Brad Marchand – Elias Lindholm – Justin Brazeau

Georgii Merkulov – Charlie Coyle – Trent Frederic

Johnny Beecher – Mark Kastelic – Cole Koepke

Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy

Parker Wotherspoon – Brandon Carlo

Nikita Zadorov – Andrew Peeke

Joonas Korpisalo,

What’s next?

The Bruins head to Detroit for a Saturday night showdown with the Red Wings at 7 p.m. They’ll return to TD Garden for a Tuesday night tilt with Vancouver. They’ll jet to Long Island to meet the New York Islanders on Wednesday.

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