Bruins’ Brandon Carlo Earns Game Puck For Unusual Reason

The Boston Bruins earned a come-from-behind victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

David Pastrnak was the star of the game with a three-point night, followed by Morgan Geekie, who potted two goals in the third period for the Bruins. However, neither of the forwards received the game puck from goaltender Joonas Korpisalo after the game. Not even Jeremy Swayman, who made 24 saves against Colorado’s high-powered offense, made the cut.

Korpisalo, who received the game puck after his 2-0 shutout against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, selected defenseman Brandon Carlo as the recipient after Boston’s latest victory.

“Sway huge game. Geeks two goals,” Korpisalo told his teammates, per team-provided video. “I’ll give this to a guy that was nails back there. Took a puck to his face and came back.”

When Carlo stood up to accept the honor, the video shows a raw gash and stitches on the 28-year-old’s left cheek.

With the Bruins holding a 2-1 lead on Geekie’s two tallies, Avs star Nathan MacKinnon set up Cale Makar for a one-timer that ended up breaking the defenseman’s stick. The bouncing puck landed on the stick blade of a Colorado forward who took a shot from an awkward angle, missing the front of the net and hitting Carlo in the face.

Carlo immediately went down the tunnel for repairs but would return for the final five minutes of the game. He finished the game with 18:50 of ice time across 24 shifts.