James Hagens records assist and win in Bruins debut: ‘Super cool'

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Even when Miles Wood joined the pile, Hagens stayed on top of both the puck and his opponents until reinforcements arrived. “He’s got two or three guys on him,” said Sean Kuraly, who pulled up alongside Hagens and shouted for the puck. “Good players like that, they’re just patient. He’s not doing anything with the puck until there’s someone there. He was telling me after that I was screaming right in his ear just to knock it my way. He’s just patient. He just stood over the puck. It’s a good lesson for all of us from a kid, I guess.” Just as Hagens got the puck to Kuraly, the center found Henri Jokiharju out front. Moments later, Jokiharju scored and Hagens had his first NHL assist. “Just trying to get in hard on the forecheck, finish your hit, make sure to stall the guy. Then heard someone talking in my ear,” Hagens said with a smile. “I just kicked it over to him.” The No. 7 pick from 2025, with his family on hand in Nationwide Arena, played 13:08 as the No. 3 left wing with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov. He landed one shot, missed with two others and had another attempt blocked. Hagens played with pace, held his own against older and more experienced opponents, looked for his offense and took care of pucks. Perhaps the only thing he would like to forget about his debut was the hooking penalty he took in the final minute of the first period. “It was super cool,” Hagens said of his first NHL game. “Really cool building to be able to get that win. It was special. Maybe stay out of the box. But it was a really cool game.” Hagens received the rookie special. In warmups, his teammates granted him first entry onto the ice ahead of Joonas Korpisalo. A bare-headed Hagens winged a puck on net and took several more laps before returning to the bench and pulling on his helmet. “I thought he was good,” coach Marco Sturm said. “I thought the whole line was great. They used their speed. They were not afraid to make plays. They made a lot of good decisions. They never really got in trouble. Coming in here in Columbus, it’s a tough building. I was curious for James too, how he was going to handle it. He did a good job.” It was not an easy environment. The Blue Jackets were fighting for their playoff lives. The Bruins were also short-handed, and the bitterness of a 2-1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning was still on the Bruins’ tongues by the time they arrived in Columbus on Saturday night. But soon after they settled in, they got some good news: They had qualified for the playoffs following the Detroit Red Wings’ loss to the New Jersey Devils. “Little bit of a roller coaster (Saturday),” Sturm said with a smile. “But we’ll take it for sure.” The Bruins entered Sunday’s game against the Blue Jackets without a win in their five previous games. But their postseason qualification granted them late-season perks, such as resting Viktor Arvidsson, Tanner Jeannot, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy and Pavel Zacha, all of whom were at less than 100 percent. They did not have to play Jeremy Swayman in back-to-back games. Even with a compromised lineup, the Bruins smashed Columbus’ playoff hopes by riding Joonas Korpisalo, reducing Grade-A chances in the defensive zone and keeping the Blue Jackets on the outside. On offense, they scored timely goals: Kuraly’s tying strike in the first, Jokiharju’s go-ahead snipe and Mark Kastelic’s third-period winner. The Bruins also kept the competition for postseason work going. It is not a sure thing that Hagens will be the No. 3 left wing to start Round 1. Mikey Eyssimont made one of his strongest cases to be in the Game 1 lineup next to Minten and Khusnutdinov. Eyssimont, playing No. 2 right wing with Lukas Reichel and Casey Mittelstadt, had two shots and four other attempts in 10:35 of ice time. Sturm could use Tuesday’s regular-season finale against the New Jersey Devils to make his final evaluation on Hagens and Eyssimont, the two leading candidates for third-line duty. “He was really strong on pucks,” Sturm said. “He moved his feet. Casey in the middle, I thought he was great. He used his wingers pretty good, especially in the second period where Lukas and Mikey had some good opportunities. I liked all four lines. They brought something to the table. I really liked Mikey’s game too.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Fluto Shinzawa is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Bruins. He has covered the team since 2006, formerly as a staff writer for The Boston Globe. Follow Fluto on Twitter @flutoshinzawa