Don Sweeney didn’t mince words or beat around bushes when talking about Mikey Eyssimont as a player after the Bruins signed him last summer.
“He’s a pain in the ass,” said Sweeney, of the forward that’s suited up in 213 NHL games for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Seattle Kraken, Winnipeg Jets and San Jose Sharks. “I want him to be a pain in the ass for us.”
Clearly, there wasn’t enough of that kind of element on last season’s Bruins team as they plummeted to the bottom of the standings, but Eyssimont helped lead an early statement win that things are going to be a little different this season.
Eyssimont stepped up to be much more than in Tuesday night’s 5-4 preseason OT win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden as the 29-year-old energy forward scored a pair of goals and factored into three third-period goals in a stirring exhibition comeback for the Black and Gold.
It literally looked like the Bruins were going to once again fall short after two mostly uninspired periods of hockey against the Blueshirts, but it was Eyssimont who completely changed the momentum when he stripped Adam Fox and scored a shorthanded goal to spearhead a furious third-period rally.
Eyssimont with the all-around effort 👌 pic.twitter.com/d2xoqZvKaE
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 24, 2025
The winger buried one from the slot next off a sweet centering pass off the side boards from Jordan Harris, and then fed a net-front dish to the back post that Marat Khusnutdinov rattled home for the game-tying goal.
It was all a clear display of the kind of energy that Eyssimont can bring to the team with his non-stop motor, and the underrated skill that is also there to generate secondary offense from his customary bottom-6 forward spot. It also looks like the 29-year-old veteran forward is going to be a nice addition to a B’s penalty kill unit that’s going to need some killers after losing PK stalwarts like Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle, among others, from their penalty killing rotation over the last few seasons.
“We addressed it after the second period. That’s not us and that is not how we want to play,” said Marco Sturm, after the B’s entered the second intermission trailing by three goals and being outshot by a 27-4 margin through the first 40 minutes of the game. “That is not how we want to represent the logo on our jersey, but good for them responding and winning the game.
“No surprise for me, but nice to see [Eyssimont] get rewarded for working hard. It took him a while because that was his first game too, but the second half of the game he got his legs under him and scored some big goals in the third period. He gets it. He’s been around different teams and different coaches at this point, so he knows what to bring every night.”
It wasn’t just Eyssimont, of course, as Khusnutdinov stepped up with the game-tying goal and then fed a long stretch pass to Nikita Zadorov for the overtime game-winner when he looped around and buried one under the bar before heading straight off the ice afterward. And youngsters like Fraser Minten and Matt Poitras logged strong games with Casey Mittelstadt also coming alive in the third period with a pair of assists as Mittelstadt, Matej Blumel, Poitras and Victor Soderstrom worked a good 4-on-3 power play during the overtime session.
In all, there was a lot to like, even as fourth-line hopefuls like Johnny Beecher and Mark Kastelic did not have particularly good nights while embattled in roster competition during camp.
“I thought we were doing well all night on the forecheck. In the second, it was a little stagnant,” said Eyssimont of his line skating with Fraser Minten and Fabian Lysell, in particular. “We just tried to emulate what the Rangers were doing because they had us on our heels. We just did it back to them.
“It’s preseason, but hopefully this shows fans that we will fight all the way to the end and see games through. We can learn from our losses and even learn from periods where we don’t play that well. That’s what we did with the second period. We fixed a lot of things and that’s the sign of a mature team.”
Beyond Eyssimont, there was also the positive of Zadorov bouncing back from a tough first game on Sunday night by leading the blueliners on Tuesday and calling “game” with his overtime winner. Zadorov finished with 22:35 of ice time and nearly had a game-winner earlier in overtime when he hammered a puck off the post at the end of a 4-on-3 power play.
ladies and gentlemen, the irish goodbye celly pic.twitter.com/RTzZYj1t43
— Liam McHugh (@liam_mchugh) September 24, 2025
“I just wanted to go home and see my family,” said a smiling Zadorov of his Irish goodbye exit from the ice after the winner.
As it was, the big D-man finished with eight shot attempts and four hits and played a big role in the rousing third-period comeback as well.
“Give the guys credit…they stuck with it. Mikey gave us two big goals,” said Zadorov. “The first one was a really good play against one of the best defensemen in the league. Stripped the puck from him and absolutely undressed the goalie.
“We didn’t give up. We had a clear message after the second period that it wasn’t good enough for the Bruins' standards. So we kind of had to show up in the third. A lot of young guys worked hard today…they’re fighting for roster spots and I thought that was a good effort in the third [period].”
The win in New York was a nice rebound from Sunday’s disappointing opener to the preseason at home, and it also effectively sent an early message to everybody that the new Bruins standard of play is going to look a little different this season.