Viktor Arvidsson scored in the first period and Joonas Korpisalo pitched the Boston Bruins’ first shutout of the season with 27 saves in a 1-0 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday evening.
The Bruins posted their third straight win and improved to 5-1-1 in the last seven games by the slimmest of margins just a day after a 10-2 home win over the New York Rangers.
Korpisalo made 10 saves in each of the first two periods and another seven in the third to earn his second win during Boston’s current streak.
Pittsburgh, which lost its second straight since a six-game win streak, had a 27-18 advantage in shots on goal. Stuart Skinner made 17 saves.
Korpisalo made a key early save on Ben Kindel’s breakaway 5:40 into the first. Minutes earlier, Boston’s Sean Kuraly had an apparent opening goal taken away after he was deemed to punch the puck in with his hand.
A hard-working finish from Arvidsson lifted the Bruins at the 11:00 mark. The winger collected the rebound of a Henri Jokiharju point shot at the side of the net and slotted a backhand shot through a sliver of space between Skinner’s skate and the post.
The Bruins were unable to extend their lead despite drawing five consecutive power plays to start the game, registering only two combined shots across those opportunities. They finished 0-for-6 on the man advantage, while Pittsburgh was 0-for-2.
Skinner kept Pittsburgh in a one-goal game through two periods, stopping David Pastrnak’s one-timer and then an Alex Steeves 2-on-1 trigger inside the final four minutes before the second intermission.
At the other end, Korpisalo was blitzed as Pittsburgh had a 10-4 edge in second-period shots. The Boston goaltender denied back-to-back Sidney Crosby backhanders following an offensive-zone turnover with 1:47 left.
In the third, Skinner denied Kuraly’s short-handed 2-on-1 chance at the 4:13 mark. Korpisalo made a challenging stop on Brett Kulak, who weaved a shot through traffic with 7:05 to go.
–Field Level Media
