The Boston Bruins lost in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers by a final of 3-2 on Saturday night in exhibition action.
Hampus Lindholm and Matthew Poitras scored for Boston, while Joonas Korpisalo made 37 saves at the other end. Matvei Michkov scored twice for Philadelphia, including the game-winner at 3:52 of the overtime period. Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen had a goal as well.
But that’s just that box score. Here are the key takeaways from the night that was on Broad Street.
Korpisalo Goes The Distance:
Joonas Korpisalo played the entire game for Boston and looked in control throughout as he turned away 37 of the 40 shots he faced.
Korpisalo’s busy night in net came after he faced limited chances in his last start against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Boston is searching for stability in goal during training camp while Jeremy Swayman is out amid tense contract negotiations. Right now, Korpisalo is the projected starter, but he’s had little time to ease fears and his poor performance last year as a member of the Ottawa Senators isn’t helping much either.
Perhaps his play against the Flyers will be the first step toward doing so.
It was surely an encouraging sign. One that Korpisalo and the Bruins needed.
Penalty Problems:
While Korpisalo kept the Bruins in the game, they constantly took themselves out of it by committing penalty after penalty. Boston had a combined total of 19 penalty minutes and found itself shorthanded seven times against the Flyers.
The neverending parade to the penalty box kept the Bruins on their heels the entire night while defending their own end.
Boston’s penalty issues came back to bite them in the second period. Shortly after Matthew Poitras gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead, he was sent to the penalty box for a hooking minor.
