Bruins Preseason Game 4 Reaction: Penalties Spoil Encouraging Night From Korpisalo

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.

That opened the door for Matvei Michkov to park himself by the post, where he deflected a crisp cross-crease pass from Olle Lycksell to even the score for Philadelphia.

Somehow, though, despite taking up residency in the penalty box, the Bruins’ shorthanded unit managed to kill off six of its seven chances.

Poitras Pots A Shorty:

As overworked as Boston’s penalty kill was, it had a bright moment when Matthew Poitras scored a shorthanded goal at 2:40 of the middle frame.

With Riley Tufte in the box for a high-sticking penalty, Trent Frederic picked up the puck after it was turned over in the neutral zone by Philadelphia and quickly fed it up to Poitras.

After entering the attacking end with speed, Poitras ripped a shot over the glove for Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov to make it a 2-1 Bruins lead.