Bruins ride momentum of three-goal first period, perfect power play in win over Jets

WINNIPEG — The Boston Bruins overpowered the Jets in their own barn.

The Bruins scored two power-play goals in the first period to eventually take a 3-2 lead, then held their opponents to one goal for the rest of the match to secure a 6-3 victory before 13,158 fans at Canada Life Centre — Winnipeg’s smallest of the season — on Thursday night.

“It’s been all year, they’ve been great,” said Bruins coach Marco Sturm. “I would say, the first half of the game, we took too many penalties. They took advantage. But when they were up 1-0 and we bounced back on the power play and (scored) again, that was a big boost for our team.”

After Winnipeg’s Morgan Barron opened the scoring, David Pastrnak scored his first of two goals with Gustav Nyquist off for tripping to tie the score 1-1. Then, with Barron off for holding, Casey Mittelstadt scored another to give Boston a 2-1 lead. Sean Kuraly then potted an even-strength goal as the Bruins beat Winnipeg netminder Eric Comrie three times in a span of 2:44 in the first, taking a 3-1 lead, one they never relinquished.

“The penalty kill,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel. “Two goals on the penalty kill. Not good enough.”

It has not been good enough for seven straight games as the Jets allowed at least one power-play marker in each of those outings.

Pastrnak also scored into an empty net and added two assists as the Bruins won their fourth straight game. He now has seven points in two games since returning from injury.

“He’s a pretty good hockey player, but he also needs to be 100% per cent, too, and he’s shown it today,” Sturm said. “I doubled him up when we lost Arvy (Viktor Arvidsson due to a lower-body injury) and I doubled him up on our lines and he got better and better. He’s a special player and only those kinds of players can do it.”

The more work he got the better Pastrnak felt.

“Every shift I felt more comfortable and you know, obviously, it’s tough to see guys go down with the injury,” he said. “But, at the same time, we have to have their back and today was my turn to add more ice time. And obviously, I enjoyed it. It helped me and I felt great.

“It’s a great way to start both games on the road and we have one more to go.”

Elias Lindholm and Hampus Lindholm scored the other Boston goals — the last two in the third period. Joonas Korpisalo made 26 saves as Boston improved to 19-13-0.

“Our third period has been our best period as of late because we do all the work,” Sturm said. “We grind teams out in the first 40 minutes, then we kind of, well, I feel like we have another gear in the third period because our skill does take over. It’s a nice combo to have. To start two wins this road trip in buildings like that is pretty cool.”

Alex Iafallo scored Winnipeg’s other goal in the first period, while Gabe Vilardi, in his 300th NHL game, scored a power-play goal to pull Winnipeg to within 4-3 late in the second. But the Jets failed to score in the third as Winnipeg fell to 14-15-1.

“We’re finding ways to lose games, as opposed to last year’s team,” Vilardi said. “All these tight games, we were coming out with wins, but this year, we are kind of battling back in games. I think that’s a big factor — battling back in all these games. It’s tough to come back from two goals down, three goals down every night.”

Arniel said the Jets need to learn how to handle adversity better.

“There is stress within a game and you’ve got to be able to handle the stress — and I’m not talking about the mental stress — it’s the pressure that builds,” he said. “As a pro hockey player, you’ve got to be ready for those moments and be able to handle them better than we are right now.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2025.