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Back from the league-mandated three-day holiday break, the Columbus Blue Jackets made sure the cannon at Nationwide Arena still worked just 10 minutes into their 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins.
It began with a Scott Hartnell on-the-doorstep goal scored 3:02 into the first period. The goal was scored when the defensive pairing of Brandon Carlo and Zdeno Chara simply seemed to forget that Hartnell was still in the attacking zone and let Hartnell get some whacks on in in front of Tuukka Rask without a defenseman within 20 feet. The Jackets extended their lead to 2-0 when Carlo once again lost his man, this time right out of the box and immediately gone down low, as Seth Jones’ bullet beat Rask up high at the 8:47 mark of the period. The Jackets made it 3-0 less than a minute later, too, as Matt Calvert went through a great individual effort and beat Rask for his fifth goal of the season.
In the blink of an eye, the Bruins were shellshocked and Claude Julien was left to look up at the Nationwide Arena jumbotron in disbelief. What could spark the Bruins back to life? A goaltending change to Anton Khudobin would be by all means conceding the thought of victory. The lines could use some shuffling, sure, but this didn’t seem to be a problem created by the offensive lines as much as it was a team-wide inability to keep up with the Jackets’ frantic pace. So, how about nothing?
Why not?
With a sense of urgency that matched the speed of the Blue Jackets, the Bruins answered with two first period goals, the first from David Backes’ upstairs snipe on Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky and the second on a second-chance opportunity from Austin Czarnik.
The B’s made it 3-3 by the end of the second period, thanks to David Krejci’s seventh of the year.
It was a dominant puck-possession showing that saw the Bruins pummel pucks on Bobrovsky, and outshoot the Jackets 29-to-11 since the Calvert goal. But when the Bruins could not find the go-ahead goal behind several prime chances on Bobrovsky, the Jackets made them pay with their league-best power play, as Nick Foligno was on the doorstep for his own rebound against Rask.
But even then, the Bruins continued to pour it on at the other end, but could not break through for a fourth goal as Bobrovsky made a season-high 37 saves in the victory, and beat the Bruins for the first time in his career in the process, giving him at least one win over every (active) NHL franchise.
With the loss, the Bruins have dropped eight of their last 11 games (3-5-3).
This and that
- The Bruins have twice now battled their way out of 0-3 holes. They have just one of a possible four points to show for such efforts, too. That’s not going to be good enough. (Ideally, you don’t find yourself in 3-0 deficits with the frequency these Bruins do, but that’s another story for another day.) You hate to diminish the ability to make it a game, of course, but a loss is a loss is a loss. And this one counts the same in the L column, and that stings, especially with the way the Bruins dominated the puck en route to a 40-to-22 shot advantage, and straight-up bullying presence after the Calvert goal.
- All things considered, it was a great nice from the Krejci line. They, like most Bruins lines, controlled the pace of play in the attacking zone and really hemmed the Blue Jackets in for prolonged stretches. It was an especially strong showing from Krejci himself, who finished the game with a goal and one assist. These were hardworking points for No. 46, too. The Bruins will need more of ‘em, too.
- So, Adam McQuaid and Josh Anderson both drop the gloves and get ready to fight. But the referees stop them from getting at one another three times, and send both to the box for two-minute roughings. Lame. As. Hell. Listen, I’m all about preventing muggings like John Scott on Phil Kessel or Ray Emery on Braden Holtby, but if two guys are willing and able, don’t break it up. Garbage!
Up next
The Bruins will begin a home-and-home with the hapless Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. The Bruins are 2-0-0 against the Sabres this year, and Buffalo will likely be without Ryan O’Reilly. This
should be a two-game set in which the Bruins take at least three points, but alas…
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), can also be found in the New England Hockey Journal magazine, and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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