The Boston Bruins took care of business on home ice. They defeated the Buffalo Sabres for the second time this season in overtime to win 4-3. This was a game where the Bruins got outplayed, but they’ve managed to secure the two points. Here are three key takeaways for the Bruins in this home victory.
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Morgan Geekie & David Pastrnak Pave the Way
There is a recipe for the Bruins to have success and win hockey games. While they’ve seen the depth scoring shine through, the dynamic duo of Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak scoring makes a major difference. In fact, since Jan. 12, 2025, nobody has scored more goals than Geekie. He has scored 31 goals in that span and now has a six-game goal-scoring streak.
Geekie scored the first goal of the game on the power play. He now has nine goals on the season and is tied for the league lead in goals. If there was any doubt about his career season (2024-25), he’s proving that it wasn’t. He is shooting at a 33.3% rate to begin the season. This game against the Sabres was a game where head coach Marco Sturm placed Geekie on the third line with Fraser Minten and Tanner Jeannot. Geekie still impacted the game.Â
Pastrnak also lit the lamp for the seventh time this season. This duo has practically carried the Bruins over the calendar year. Mark Kastelic added an insurance goal, but the Sabres tied the game and forced overtime. Marat Khusnutdinov got to play the hero, and overall, the Bruins’ biggest scoring threats continue to pave the way to wins. The other player that held up their end of the bargain was Joonas Korpisalo.Â
Korpisalo Stood Tall in the CreaseÂ
This recipe to winning sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it? A game where the Bruins get outplayed, outchanced, and somehow the starting goaltender stands tall and steals a win. That’s exactly what Korpisalo did for the Bruins against the Sabres Thursday night.Â
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The Bruins scored their first two goals of the game on their first three shots. Sounds great, right? Well, they were getting peppered with shots and being pinned in their own end of the ice, and Korpisalo already faced more than ten shots before the first goal. It only got worse as the game went onward.Â
The Sabres hushed their speed, and they took advantage of a Bruins team that looked fatigued to end the game. As the Bruins got into penalty trouble, the Sabres feasted on their chances and created plenty of high-danger chances.
Korpisalo stood tall. Overall, he faced 14 high-danger shots on goal and stopped 12 of them. Furthermore, he finished with a .925 save percentage and 2.78 goals saved above expected. Even with allowing two goals, that’s a testament to how strong he was in net, holding down the crease.Â
As great as this victory was, it’s not a sustainable way to win.Â
This Isn’t a Sustainable Way to Win
As they say, a win is a win. It is great to capitalize on the chances that you do get. However, playing this type of game any given night is not sustainable. Expecting the goalie to stand on his head and steal a win for you isn’t sustainable.Â
The Bruins saw the Sabres out-attempt them 52-42 during five-on-five play and outshoot them 29-26. The Sabres were able to dominate in scoring chances and control play in the high-danger areas of the ice. That offensive impact led to controlling the expected goals share.Â
The Sabres generated 3.76 expected goals for during five-on-five play and 5.78 overall. As for the Bruins, just 1.32 during five-on-five play and 2.14 overall. To be able to win a game where you’ve gotten smothered offensively is a sigh of relief. But relying on your goalie to stand tall and the big guys to score isn’t sustainable.
A Win is a Win, but Bruins Need to be BetterÂ
It was great to see the Bruins come out on top. But if the on-ice impacts are going to be that lopsided, this isn’t an ideal recipe for winning hockey games. Geekie remains red-hot, and Korpisalo continues to stand tall in the crease. They take the two points, but they need to improve moving forward.
