There’s still a long way to go, but the Boston Bruins took a step in the right direction on Thursday with a 1-0 win over the Utah Hockey Club at the TD Garden, giving Joe Sacco his first win as interim head coach.

The win ended a three-game losing streak for the Bruins.

Elias Lindholm broke through on the power play to give special teams, and himself, a much-needed confidence boost and become the eventual game winner.

Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves in his second shutout of the season.

“We really dug in,” he added. “We obviously got some big saves from Korpisalo when we needed them, especially towards the end here, but a good effort from our group tonight, and that’s what we were looking for. We were looking for the passion and emotion in our club.”

The Bruins had three power plays in the first inning, but came up short. The calls continued to go in their favor and on their fifth power play of the game, a burden was lifted.

E. Lindholm’s power play goal was a turning point, as was Mark Kastelic who brought physicality with two fights that increased the energy on the bench and in the stands at crucial moments in the first and second periods.

“He changed the tide of the game,” Brad Marchand said of Kastelic. “He made us feel emotionally involved.”

The Bruins held onto the lead as Korpisalo also made some timely saves in the third period.

Sacco’s first win at the helm “felt pretty good, I’m not going to lie to you,” he said after the game. But he added: “It was even more important to let our boys win as well. I think how we approached the game tonight, it was a business approach.”

Here’s the highlight.

First period:

Pointless

Shots 15-5 Bruins

Second period:

David Pastrnak provided the first shot from the left circle. Brad Marchand tried his hand at the rebound before the loose puck found Elias Lindholm at the top of the paint. Lindholm then fired a quick wrist shot past Karel Vejmelka on the power play at 12:41 of the second period. 1-0 Bruins.

Third period:

A would-be David Pastrnak, power play, empty-netter was ruled a no-goal because he was determined to have a high stick on the play. Final score: 1-0 Bruins.

Game notes

• The Bruins’ power play progressed as the game went on. Despite a few mishaps, things looked good overall, generating 18 shots on six chances. The B’s even looked to Georgii Merkulov on the first unit during the first power play. The opportunities were there and early on the second unit was the one moving the puck around and making shots at the net. “They were executing and creating some opportunities, so that doesn’t take the juice away from you,” Sacco said of the game’s early power plays. “It actually creates something.”
• Morgan Geekie and Justin Brazeau did well on the second unit and had two scoring opportunities on two separate power plays. Although it took five power plays to ultimately take advantage, there was more hope and fewer missed opportunities felt.
• SCOC asked Elias Lindholm if the goal was both a relief for him and important for a struggling power play. Lindholm said: “Yes, I think our power play can win games for us and obviously we let the team down a lot this year. It’s frustrating, but tonight we obviously have one, but a lot of chances. It’s always nice to score and help the team in that way and that’s why I was brought here and hopefully there will be more to come.”
• The relief on E. Lindholm’s face said it all after the goal. The attacker had not scored since October 12 and this was only his third goal of the season, after a winless streak of five games. After the game, Lindholm said he knows when he’s playing well and when he’s playing bad. He has acknowledged that “there have been too many bad games for me this year” and sees this as an opportunity to reset and rebuild confidence.
• Sacco Post Game: “We had a few individuals tonight that really brought some energy to our group to lift the bench at certain points during the game, just a good performance from our guys.”
• One of those guys was Mark Kastelic, who had two majors against Robert Bortuzzo. In addition to the physical element that increased the energy in the building, he blocked shots and passes. After the game, he said he just wanted to make an impact with something that is part of the way he plays the game.
• Another player was Korpisalo, who put together some very solid games. Marchand had this to say about Korpisalo: “If your confidence is there you can play at such a high level and he did that. When you needed him he made some huge saves. You can just see it again… he built in practice. You could see his confidence and the saves he made that took his level of competition to the next level.”
• Sacco said he thought the team played a better defensive game, both when protecting the net and rushing through the neutral zone. He added that there were layers of puck support. Korpisalo also agreed that the defense kept pucks out of shooting lanes and away from the front of the net. “I saw every shot the whole game,” he said.
• Marchand talked about the need to take momentum out of the game. He said too often this season: they played a good game, but then let off the gas. “It was a good game, but it was one game,” Marchand said. “We must continue to build and understand the importance of putting in the same effort every day.”
• The Bruins travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings on Saturday, November 23 at 7:00 PM