After a bit of a sluggish start in both ends for the Boston Bruins, fans were hoping that their team would give them a reason to be more optimistic at the end of the second month of the season after finishing October in 14th place. With a record of 4-6-1, as long as they didn’t stay stagnant or fall two spots to last place, it was a pretty safe assumption that fans would be happy with any sort of progress.
Related: Boston Bruins’ 3 Stars of the Month: October
One month later on Nov. 30, conditions had improved, at least in the standings. The Bruins sat in ninth place with a record of 11-11-3, trailing the Tampa Bay Lightning for the coveted eighth spot in the Eastern Conference by just one point.
With two months gone in the 2024-25 NHL season, there are the three individuals who stand out as most valuable from November for Boston and stand as the Bruins’ three stars for the previous month.
*Disclaimer: this list will not include players from the previous month*
Third Star – Joonas Korpisalo
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be putting a goaltender not named Jeremy Swayman on this list. However, for a guy who is considered to be the “backup” goalie for Boston, Joonas Korpisalo has put together one of heck of a season despite his playing time being limited this season since being traded to the Bruins for Linus Ullmark.
Korpisalo has put together a 5-2-1 record through nine games (eight starts) and collected a 2.45 goals-against-average (GAA), and .907 save percentage (SV%). More importantly for the Finnish netminder is that he has turned it around of late for the Bruins.
In November, Korpisalo only played five games, but he made the most of his time on the ice. In those games, he went 4-0-1 stopping 125 of 134 shots, and picking up two shutouts along the way—one on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers, and one at home against the Utah Hockey Club. He also made a season-high 34 saves in a matchup against the Calgary Flames, another win for the 30-year-old from Pori, Finland.
While he may be the backup to Swayman for now, he certainly isn’t playing like it and doesn’t appear willing to give up his spot on the bench for any up-and-coming netminder anytime soon.
Second Star – Joe Sacco
Following the firing of Jim Montgomery and quick replacement by associate coach Joe Sacco, fans were unsure what to make of the decision by Don Sweeney and questioned if he should be looked at as the reason it all went awry. In fact, some saw it as a sign that the team had given up on the season, despite it being so early. Instead, Sacco immediately took the reins and has steered them clear of the metaphorical mud pit in front of them and back on the right track.
Now, while he is only the interim head coach and only coached in five games in November, he does deserve some credit for leading the Bruins to three victories in those five games. Among those three victories was a resounding 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders, tying their largest win margin all season.
The most notable part about Sacco’s first stretch of games as interim head coach is that both losses the team suffered were by two goals or fewer. While any loss is normally not good news for a team, Boston can take some solace knowing that its goal differential was minus-19 at the end of the month when it could have been much worse, especially given its opponents at the end of the month.
Sacco still has a lot to prove behind the bench but has given fans and players at least a glimmer of hope.
First Star – Brad Marchand
After Brad Marchand gave fans a bit of a scare to start the season after revealing he underwent three surgeries in the offseason, he has proved that the surgeries were just a minor hiccup he had to overcome to start the season as he racked 10 points in November on six goals and four assists in 14 games. He also held a plus-4 plus-minus rating.
What was most impressive about Marchand’s play in November is that he had three different stretches of two consecutive games or more with at least one point.
In this stretch of the road for the 36-year-old veteran, he also picked up his first multi-goal game of the season. Marchand did so in a matchup on Nov. 27 on the road against the Islanders, a game where he tallied his sixth-lowest time-on-ice (TOI) total for the season.
With Marchand in the final year of his contract in Boston, he will look to keep his numbers up as the season goes on, especially if he wants to lead by example with the “C” on his sweater.
What’s Next for the Bruins?
While the Bruins treated their fans to a rousing 6-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in their Centennial Game on Sunday at the TD Garden, they will look to give Sacco his fifth win as interim coach versus another Original Six foe in the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at home. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.
