The 30-year-old Finn netminder performed flawlessly in a 3-0 victory, giving Boston the perfect cure to its recent malaise.
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PHILADELPHIA —
Joonas Korpisalo, stopper.
In desperate need of getting both their games — on the ice and in their heads — back in order, the Bruins on Saturday turned to the 6-foot-3-inch Korpisalo, the 30-year-old Finn who responded with 20 saves
in a tidy 3-0 blanking of the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.
“Yes, and for everyone,” said Korpisalo, asked if the win generated some much-needed good feelings among the rank-and-file. “The game today, we took the driver’s seat right away, kept it, and that was a good 60 minutes for us.”
By period, Korpisalo turned away shots totaling five, seven, and eight. By no means a heavy workload — an encouraging sign for the bedraggled Boston backline — but Korpisalo was tested on 4-5 low-slot offerings that easily could have escaped the clutches of a less competent goaler.
The saves were timely and sharp, essential to the win.
“You know, every game there’s gotta be timely saves,” said the mild-mannered Korpisalo, “and you’ve got to be ready to do those. I think we weathered the storm today pretty well. I only had to make 1-2 saves and that’s it.”
“One hundred percent,” said Korpisalo, asked if he could see his teammates gaining confidence throughout the afternoon. “The first period we were so good. And having the lead, you know, it’s easier to play with the lead than chase the game … like I said, we were in the driver’s seat today.”
It was Korpisalo’s fifth career shutout, his first since a short stint with the Kings in 2022-23, and he improved to 2-2-0 with a 2.70 goals-against and .894 save percentage so far this season.
“I thought he was great,” said team captain
Brad Marchand. “He gave us an opportunity to win. He’s been really good, especially as of late. It’s great when you have a game like that, to be able to build confidence off it.
“Seems he is getting better and better every day. He’s a great guy, good to have in the room, and that was an unbelievable performance today.”
