Bruins knock off Hurricanes, 2-1, for third consecutive victory

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Nov 1, 2025

Published in Hockey

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BOSTON — The Bruins have now won as many as they’ve lost in this young hockey season, but rarely have they been able to hold their heads higher than on Saturday at TD Garden.

Facing the explosive Carolina Hurricanes, the B’s played their best game of the season to win their third in a row, 2-1, behind Jeremy Swayman’s 27 saves. After muddling through a six-game losing streak, the B’s are now .500 at 7-7.

Casey Mittelstadt broke a scoreless tie at 1:27 of the third period off the rush. The B’s entered the zone with speed and Pavel Zacha sent a pass to a charging Charlie McAvoy on the right side. McAvoy’s back-door pass for Mittelstadt was deflected by Carolina defenseman Sean Walker, but Mittelstadt stuck with it and was able to lift it over Frederik Andersen’s pad.

The B’s then took a 2-0 lead at 5:05 when they turned defense into offense. McAvoy blocked a shot in his own zone and Mittelstadt sent Viktor Arvidson away on a partial break. With the Carolina defender closing, Arvidsson beat Andersen from distance with a perfectly placed wrister to the far, upper corner.

Carolina didn’t go away easily.

With Andersen out for the extra skater, Alexander Nikishin beat Swayman with a slapper from 25 feet.

But the B’s were able to hang on for the hard-earned victory.

First periods for the B’s have been noteworthy for the fire-drill nature of their defensive play. But while they did give up some good chances in the scoreless first, there was little of the helter-skelter play we’ve seen in previous games.

After watching Joonas Korpisalo record two wins while getting pelted with pucks, Swayman was sharp. He stopped a Seth Jarvis breakaway and then, on a Carolina power play off a horrendous holding call on Nikita Zadorov, he stoned Jackson Blake, who was left all alone in front of the net while four Bruins battled for the puck in the corner.

The B’s actually had a 10-9 shot advantage in the first and Andersen had to be on his game, too. He stopped a short-handed breakaway by Mark Kastelic and held his ground while the B’s third line hacked and whacked numerous times for a loose puck before Andersen was able to freeze it.

After the B’s had an unproductive power play at the start of the second period, it appeared the Canes were ready to take over. They kept the B’s hemmed in their own zone for several shifts, but they were able to keep the Canes mostly to the outside. When they didn’t, Swayman came up with the big save to keep it scoreless.

Later in the period, Andersen held up his end in the goalie duel when the B’s started to tilt the ice a little more equitably. Some of the B’s best chances never got to the net, including a on nice tic-tac-toe play that ended when Arvidsson heeled the backdoor shot attempt.

The Canes held a 9-6 shot advantage in the second but the teams went into the third period deadlocked with matching goose eggs.