How long the contract dispute between the Bruins and No. 1 goaltender Jeremy Swayman lasts remains to be seen, but Joonas Korpisalo indicated Tuesday that he may be able to hold the fort until a deal is finalized.
Korpisalo, looking to get his game back under control after a poor season in Ottawa, stopped every shot he faced in 29:39 minutes in his first preseason game as a Bruin and the B’s earned a 4-2 win at the Garden.
It was a game that again featured few established NHL players, but competition for the skater positions was getting tougher. The B’s had two young players – Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov, who they absolutely had to use – who helped them win. Lysell scored a goal and drew two penalties, while Merkulov provided a nice assist and drew a penalty.
The B’s took the lead for the first time when Riley Tufte got on the scoreboard at 11:51 – with a little help from Washington goalie Hunter Shepard. Tufte fired a low shot from the left side of the slot at the goal. Shepard initially made a save, but when the puck bounced in the air, he tried to catch it with his hand, instead placing it right between his own pads.
Meanwhile, Korpisalo stopped all five shots in the first period, and several of them were dangerous. The first one he faced came from a clean break that he was able to reach with his stick. He also faced a couple of one-timers on a Washington power play, which he dispatched with ease.
Two young players trying to break through were much more aggressive. Merkulov drew a penalty late in the first period and Lysell drew another penalty on that power play early in the second period.
The B’s couldn’t score on the short 5-on-3, but as time ran out for the second penalty, Lysell showed the kind of skill that made him a first-round pick in 2021. Lysell got some time and space in the left circle and took advantage of a block from Tyler Johnson to put a shot just inside the post that gave the B’s a 2-0 lead at 2:59 of the second period.
Veteran Patrick Brown gave the B’s a 3-0 lead when he one-twod with Ian Mitchell through the neutral zone after Washington’s first real sustained pressure. After Mitchell’s back pass into the high slot, Brown fired a low shot that blazed past Shepard’s stick at 9:46.
Korpisalo left the game after stopping all seven shots fired at him, but the Caps scored on their eighth shot. In a mass crash in front of the goal, Michael DiPietro failed to clear the puck before Pierre-Luc Dubois poked it over to Connor McMichael, who scored an easy goal.
Merkulov helped the B’s regain a three-goal lead early in the third period. Merkulov received the puck on the left side and made a nice backhand pass to Justin Brazeau, who made an equally nice backhand chip over Shepard’s shoulder.
Andrew Cristall of the Caps scored a goal in the last minute, but this did not spoil the good mood of the evening.
