Perseverance and persistence are two things that are very often rewarded within the game of hockey. The Bruins have one of those stories within their midst this season as 27-year-old rookie Mikey DiPietro has won a regular backup goalie role on an NHL team for the first time in his career after stops in three different AHL destinations – and some time in the good, old ECHL for the Maine Mariners – since being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks back in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
DiPietro stopped 25 pucks in Friday night’s 4-2 B’s win over the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center to finally earn his first NHL victory in six career games played and lived out a dream that’s been a lifetime in the making. He was awarded a game puck after notching his first career win at the NHL level and DiPietro said it’s a good luck charm that won’t be far from his possession for the rest of this long road trip.
“The puck is going under my pillow tonight and then it’s probably going in my pocket tomorrow,” said DiPietro, sounding very much like he probably did 20 years earlier as an excited youth hockey player with a game puck. “It’s going to be in my pocket on the plane and I’m not letting it go out of my sight.”
Interestingly enough, the story of a determined, older rookie goalie is a familiar one for Bruins fans and there’s now a connection between the two best examples as DiPietro became the oldest goalie (27 years, 129 days) to earn his first NHL win for the Black and Gold since Tim Thomas got his first career victory as a 28-year-old (28 years, 187 days to be exact) back in the 2002-03 season.
Michael DiPietro backstopped the @NHLBruins to a fourth consecutive victory and earned his first career win in the process. #NHLStats: https://t.co/Vt18SaLSRk https://t.co/OrhSAiO7jA
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) October 17, 2026
The comparisons don’t end there between DiPietro and Thomas, though, as both goaltenders have the slightly undersized, athletic style as an uncanny similarity that’s clear when you start watching the current B’s backup take the net. As this humble hockey writer recalls, things eventually worked out pretty well between that late bloomer and the Black and Gold.
None of DiPietro’s first “W” was easy, though, as DiPietro gave up two goals in the first period as the Bruins were caught napping to start the game, and the first goal allowed was a dribbler with traffic in front that the young netminder was kicking himself for afterward. It’s probably apropos that it was a battle for the rookie netminder given how hard DiPietro had to battle through the AHL bus tour in order to finally get his shot.
“Said a lot of expletives to myself at the end of the period,” admitted DiPietro. “It’s hard to kind of refocus and shut the door for the rest of the way. I just wanted to be sharp for the guys and keep making saves for them.”
Still, the bottom line is that DiPietro has posted a solid .911 save percentage through his first two games, and the combined .925 team save percentage with Jeremy Swayman is third in the NHL right now behind just the Dallas Stars and New York Islanders. The Bruins are getting exactly the kind of elite-level goaltending play they expected after bringing DiPietro in as the backup this season after a couple of dominant AHL seasons in Providence. And DiPietro is getting a flood of emotions and thoughts as he reaches milestones and accomplishments that he’s worked a lifetime for, even if it’s going to take some time for him to process it all.
“It’s hard to pinpoint. There’s a lot of them. Definitely a dramatic way to get the first one and I didn’t make it easy on myself,” said DiPietro. “I’m sure I’ll have more time to debrief and sit with it and kind of see how long the road really was. Obviously, it’s just one and you want to build on this moment, but definitely going to enjoy it. Really looking forward to calling my dad and my wife and really enjoying it with them.”
It’s just as much that the Bruins are really enjoying the consistently high level of goaltending play they are getting from DiPietro and Swayman as the unquestioned biggest strength of this team.
ONE TIMERS
*A big blow to all the Boston Bruins trade boards this week as interim