The Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild both needed more than 60 minutes to secure wins on Thursday.
Despite not playing at their best, both bring momentum into Saturday afternoon’s meeting in Boston.
The Bruins were undefeated before falling Tuesday at Ottawa, but Taylor Hall’s goals in the second period and shootout and Linus Ullmark’s 30 saves led the way to a 2-1 win over Anaheim on Thursday night.
“I thought Taylor Hall was our best skater (and) Linus was our best player,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “(Ullmark) gave us an opportunity to get two points. He’s done it every night he’s been in the net, and he’s had a great start to the year.”
Ullmark is 3-0-0 with a .938 save percentage.
While Montgomery intended to alternate goalies in the early going, Ullmark might have separated from Jeremy Swayman as a clear No. 1 on Thursday.
“It’s going to be hard to go away from him, but things we have to consider are the 36 hours after and he spent a lot of time in the crouch because, unfortunately, we defended more than we would have liked,” Montgomery said.
Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk’s return from offseason shoulder surgery gave the Bruins a boost. During his season debut, he registered an assist and bumped up to pair with Hampus Lindholm.
“You get a little anxious before the game, not really sure how it’s going to play out, but I just kept reminding myself that I’m in a fortunate position, lucky to be back,” Grzelcyk said. “The guys have been playing great, and I just wanted to come in and make it as seamless as I could.”
Jack Studnicka also played his first game. The forward was a minus-1 and committed two penalties in just 8:01.
It wasn’t his — or the team’s — best effort.
“He wasn’t alone, but we found a way to get two points and we’re going to enjoy the two points,” Montgomery said. “But we’re not going to be happy with the team play.”
The Wild went 1-3-0 during their opening homestand, allowing at least six goals in three straight games before Thursday’s 4-3 overtime win against Vancouver.
It had been a rough start, but the win could be just what was needed to turn things around heading into a five-game, nine-day road trip.
“Everybody kind of got tense, right? Not being ourselves,” goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. “Just to be relaxed and smile and having fun playing the game and working, it’s good. It’s good to see everybody laugh. We just gotta keep building on it.”
Mats Zuccarello scored twice before Kirill Kaprizov put home the overtime goal to highlight a three-point night. The two stars have four goals and eight points apiece.
“Not winning the first three games, every single shift feels like it’s tiring when you make a lot of mistakes, you don’t do well in your own zone, every shift seems difficult,” Kaprizov said. “… You try, work hard and maybe feel better, and after a win, of course, it’s no pressure now.”
Wild forward and Grzelcyk’s former Boston University teammate Jordan Greenway left his season debut after the first period with an upper-body injury.
Like Grzelcyk, Greenway had been recovering from shoulder surgery.
“He’s going to get really looked at (Friday), but I can tell you he won’t be in the next game,” Minnesota coach Dean Evason said.
Also on Thursday, Alex Goligoski became just the ninth player to play his 1,000th NHL game in a Wild sweater.
–Field Level Media
