The Boston Bruins gave themselves a chance to take at least a point from Tuesday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets after a horrendous start.
The B’s fought back from a 3-0 first-period deficit to enter the third period all tied up, but they couldn’t finish the deal and left Nationwide Arena empty handed in a 4-3 loss.
The defeat drops Boston to 18-15-4, while Columbus improves to an NHL-best 24-5-4 and extended its point streak to 15 games.
Here’s how it all went down.
EARLY DOMINATION
The Blue Jackets completely overran the Bruins through the first 10 minutes, scoring three goals with relative ease.
Scott Hartnell scored his ninth goal of the season just 3:02 into the game to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 edge. The goal came right after Columbus hit the post on a previous scoring chance.
Seth Jones doubled his team’s lead at 8:47 with an absolute rocket of a shot past goaltender Tuukka Rask.
Matt Calvert extended Columbus’ lead to 3-0 just 52 seconds later on a sensational individual effort.
Boston did not register a single shot attempt from 5:57 through 11:05 of the period.
HERE COME THE BRUINS
The Bruins didn’t panic, though, and they answered right back with two goals in 55 seconds to close the gap.
David Backes started it off with his ninth goal of the campaign.
Austin Czarnik scored 55 seconds after that to pull the Bruins within one.
The Bruins fired eight shots and scored twice from 11:05 to 14:15 of the opening period. It was a much-needed stretch of puck possession and aggressive play in the attacking zone after Columbus overwhelmed the B’s for most of the first 11 minutes.
In fact, the Blue Jackets went without a 5-on-5 shot attempt from 9:39 of the first period to 0:08 of the second period.
BOBROVSKY’S KRYPTONITE?
Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky entered Tuesday among the top Vezina Trophy candidates with a .935 save percentage and a 1.87 GAA. He’s excelled against almost every team except the Bruins, who’ve scored on him 12 times in three games.
Oct. 13 (opening night): 6-3 Bruins win (five goals against)
Nov. 10: 5-2 Bruins win (four goals against)
Dec. 27: 4-3 Blue Jackets win (three goals against)
TIE GAME!
The Bruins tied the game at three with a goal from David Krejci late in the second period.
CAPTAIN COMES THROUGH
Nick Foligno scored the go-ahead goal for Columbus at 10:46 of the third period. The Blue Jackets captain was all alone at the net and fired the puck past Rask for the power-play tally. It was an example of poor defensive zone coverage by the B’s.
Columbus entered the game with the league’s most successful power play.
POWER PLAY STRUGGLE
The Bruins had a power play with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, but they couldn’t generate any kind of attack and the man advantage ended with zero shots on goal. It was a huge chance not taken advantage of.
UP NEXT
The Bruins continue their road trip Thursday night in Buffalo against the Sabres. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports Images. Foligno goal video via Chris Abraham.Â
