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Joonas Korpisalo, Boston Bruins (Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)

Goaltending the Key to Bruins’ Win Streak

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Ryan Ventura | Last updated Nov 7, 2025 4:45 PM ET

The Boston Bruins have been a streaky team thus far in 2025-26. After losing six straight, they have won six of their last seven, including a win streak that has now reached five games. Inconsistent play may be expected from this team, as they are full of new faces following the clearing of house that occurred at last season’s trade deadline. That said, the team has been finding ways to win after a 7-2 thumping at the hands of the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 27. Let’s take a look at the key to this win streak so far: the Bruins’ goaltending.

Korpisalo Killing It

The Bruins’ goaltending was a major area of struggle last season, with both Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo struggling to find consistency and Swayman putting up the worst numbers of his career. The duo has had their rough moments already in 2025-26, each with a few starts allowing an ugly number. During this five-game win streak, however, each netminder has played brilliantly.

The win streak started on Oct. 28, the night after the Bruins allowed seven goals to the Senators. Korpisalo was in net, and he let in a goal early. After that, he was dynamite. He ended up facing 35 shots on the night and allowed just two goals, allowing the Bruins to coast to an easy 5-2 win in which they dominated the final 40 minutes of the game.

Fresh off his best performance of the campaign, he faced the Buffalo Sabres just two days later. Again, Korpisalo faced a high number of shots in that contest, and again he was brilliant, stopping 37 of 40. His most recent appearance came on Thursday night against the Senators; while he saw fewer shots this time around, he stopped 20 of 22, making several impressive saves in the clutch to keep the Bruins alive in overtime and paving the way for Pavel Zacha to win it in the extra frame.

Swayman Heating Up

One of the major questions for the Bruins heading into this campaign was if Swayman would look like his 2023-24 self or his 2024-25 self. Thus far in November, the Bruins’ star goalie has looked like the former. After the matchup with Ottawa where he allowed seven goals, his next appearance came against the Carolina Hurricanes, a Stanley Cup contender who have started the season hot. Swayman gave the Bruins his best performance since opening night by making 28 saves on 29 shots, and the Bruins needed every one of them as they won the game 2-1.

His positive play continued against the New York Islanders. While the Bruins were outshot in the contest, Swayman kept them in it. It felt like a game the Bruins should have lost, with Marat Khusnutdinov tying the game with under five to play. After an overtime where neither team scored, the Bruins’ netminder was red hot in the shootout. He turned away all three of the shots that he faced, making Khusnutdinov’s shootout goal on Ilya Sorokin the game winner.

Great Goaltending A Must For Bruins

Great goaltending is an absolute must for the 2025-26 Bruins. Unlike some teams from seasons past, this group does not have the offensive depth to consistently win high-scoring affairs. They are going to need to play a physical, low-scoring brand of hockey to grind out wins, and that manner of play relies heavily on Swayman and Korpisalo to be at their best.

This five-game win streak provides a recipe for success for this team: play solid defensively, rely on your goalies, and score enough goals to eke out wins–of their last six victories, five have come by one goal. It isn’t flashy, but this is how the 2025-26 Bruins can play their way into relevance.