Final Score: Bruins 3 – Blue Jackets 2
Game Summary
Gregory Campbell made his return to Boston but it wasn’t enough to lead the Jackets, as they fell 3-2 in a shootout to Boston.
John Tortorella was forced to miss the game, as he broke two ribs in that collision with Rene Bourque. Assistant Coach Craig Hartsberg was forced to step up and take over as head coach. Wish all the best to Torts as he recovers.
Joonas Korpisalo received the start and turned in another great performance. He didn’t get the win but he played very well, particularly in the third period. He stopped 32 of 34 shots for a .941 save percentage. This is his third straight start posting at least a .940 SV%. He's on a great roll.
Kerby Rychel also stayed hot; having another two point night. He only played 10:09 in the game but made the most of it. He's been developing really well and is starting to climb up the forward ranks. When he first came up he was playing just 7-8 minutes a night. Now he's in the 10-11 range playing as much as 14 minutes, which he saw against Calgary. The next step here would be to give him some special team’s time. He's been a great scorer at even strength it would be nice to see if he could translate it into power play scoring as well.
So how about Justin Falk and Dalton Prout? I’ve been giving them a lot of flak recently (for good reason) but tonight they each played arguably their best games of the season. They were each above a 50% Corsi and each had a point. Prout scored the Jackets first goal, while Falk picked up an assist on the second goal. It was thought that Falk may have scored that second goal, but it was determined to have to have been tipped by Rychel.
Nick Foligno and Matt Calvert were back in the lineup. Foligno had a strong possession game controlling 66.67% of the shot attempts. Calvert on the other hand had a rough go finishing with just 33.33% of the shot attempts. Calvert’s impact though was felt on the penalty kill. He played 2:31 on the PK, helping the Jackets kill off all five of Boston’s opportunities.
Stat of the Night
Stats courtesy of HockeyStats.ca and War On Ice.
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