Bruins pick up a win in their first game in Utah

Cole Koepke had given the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the second period, but Boston was never able to build on that momentum and its lead.

In the third period and especially in overtime, the speed of the UHC caused excitement for the Bruins.

Five minutes before the end, defender Vladislav Kolyachonok equalized with a spectacular goal.

Nick Schmaltz led a charging Kolyachonok with a deft pass, got behind the defense and lifted a backhander to Jeremy Swayman into the top shelf.

“I saw the replay; He went up and I just played like a runaway and tipped my cap. He had a good shot,” said Swayman, who made 30 saves.

In the first minute of overtime, David Pastrnak was brought down after injuring Clayton Keller. Although the Bruins technically killed the penalty, the call killed them.

UHC defeated the undermanned Bruins in overtime and wore them down. Just four seconds after Pastrnak left the penalty area, Kesselring hit the winning goal past Swayman.

“It’s one of those (calls) we wish we had, I think. It might be a bit soft. Nothing came of it,” Brad Marchand said. “Usually in overtime they go for chances or turnovers, things like that. But I mean, at the end of the day it was a trip, so it's a shame that we ruined it and the guys there are doing a job, but it's unfortunate that Pasta is just cranking up the ice cream and his stick somehow gets stuck. Things like this happen.”

It was a surprisingly slow start as the clubs acted rather conservatively in the first five minutes.

Utah generated the first offensive burst, highlighted by Ian Cole's blue-line bomb that grazed Swayman's crossbar and Logan Cooley's sneaky backhander in the slot.

Pastrnak had a nice opportunity, but couldn't get a good shot on the shot from the slot. As the Bruins winger tried to collect himself, Cole grabbed the puck.

Boston (3-3) scored its first power play when Kevin Stenlund sacked Marchand in the neutral zone.

The Bruins captain had the best two chances with the man advantage, but his first wrist shot was blocked by Connor Ingram (22 saves) and a follow-up attack whistled over the head of the Utah goalie.

After Swayman deflected a post kick from Alex Kerfoot, the Bruins rebounded with good chances from Nikita Zadorov (from the blue line) and Justin Brazeau (on the rebound).

Swayman made the save of the quarter when he thwarted Lawson Crouse's one-timer from the left point.

Crouse had another chance after pocketing Mason Lohrei in the slot, but Swayman deflected that shot as well.

Charlie McAvoy caught Dylan Guenther with a high stick with just 1:10 left in the first period, but the Bruins survived until the start of the second period.

In the early 1920s, things got a little tricky, and little by little, let's call it tiny.

After Boston's Mark Kastelic pinned Juuso Valimaki to the glass in the Utah end, Robert Bortuzzo objected and charged at Kastelic. However, the Utah defender lost his balance and eliminated Kastelic, who fell on top of him.

Instead of fisticuffs, there was cold follies.

Both were sent off for roughing and the Bruins dominated the two minutes of four-on-four play, landing multiple testers on Ingram.

Utah resumed the power play when Zadorov made a catch. The Bruins survived, thanks in large part to Johnny Beecher, who stepped in front of a Mikhail Sergachev rocket despite losing his bat. It hurt, but Beecher kept killing.

The Bruins broke through when Koepke caught a shovel pass from Marchand and raced toward Ingram before firing a ball through the goalie's fifth hole for his third goal of the year and his second in two games.

After the ensuing face-off, Koepke once again demonstrated his speed by getting around Kolyachonok, who had no choice but to pull him to the ground and run into the penalty area to impede him.

Utah was almost outnumbered when Kesselring grabbed Pastrnak's bag and charged at Swayman. His wrist ball beat the Boston goalkeeper but bounced across the goal area at the far post but never went in, making the score 1-0 after two minutes.

“Well, I thought the whole game (their speed) gave us problems,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought they started faster than us. I thought they were more determined than us. They were more relentless. I don’t think we got a great handle on the pucks because of their sticks.”

Jim McBride can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.