Bruins-Blue Jackets Live: B’s Use Pair of Early Goals to Roll to 3-1 Win Over Columbus

Final, Bruins 3-1: That’s it, and that’s all. Arguably the easiest win of the seaosn comes to an end for the Bruins and they win it 3-1.

Third period, 19:00, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins power play is over with no success,but the Columbus net is empty now.

Third period, 16:54, Bruins 3-1: Back to the power play for the Bruins.

This time, Boone Jenner is the guilty party as he’s sent off for hooking.

Third period, 14:18, Bruins 3-1: It feels like they’re just playing out the string at this point.

If the Bruins are able to hold on and win this game, they will finish off November on a very successful note. The B’s are in line to move to 10-3-2 in November with a win.

They would also continue to be a very tough team to beat at home. They haven’t lost here at TD Garden in regulation since Oct. 26. Obviously a lot of things going right for a team that still hasn’t put it all together just yet.

Third period, 11:38, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins held possession in the Columbus zone for much of the power play, but they couldn’t convert.

Boston still holds a commanding 31-14 lead in shots on goal, and they are just dominating this game. The Blue Jackets are still a banged-up bunch, but they have certainly looked like they aren’t handling the back-to-back very well.

Third period, 7:55, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins’ power play will get yet another chance.

Mark Letstu will go to the box for a faceoff violation penalty.

Third period, 6:16, Bruins 3-1: Chad Johnson’s bid for the shutout is over.

Ryan Johansen just ripped a wrist shot from the just above the right faceoff circle that beat Johnson for the Blue Jackets’ first goal of the game. Fedor Tyutin did a nice job of going to the front of the net, and that might have been just enough to cut out some of Johnson’s vision.

Third period, 4:59, Bruins 3-0: The Blue Jackets are going back on the power play after Dougie Hamilton was just called for tripping.

Third period, 2:15, Bruins 3-0: Jarome Iginla’s goal-scoring drought is becoming comical at this point. 

Milan Lucic just fired a shot from the top of the slot that was originally stopped in front, but the puck went up into the air. It ended up coming down behind Curtis McElhinney and over the line.

At first, it looked like Iginla had batted it home when it was in midair, but the upon review, he didn’t touch it, and Lucic will get credit for his second goal of the night.

Third period, 0:01, Bruins 2-0: The third period begins with the Bruins on the power play for another 24 seconds.

End second period, Bruins 2-0: The second period just came to an end, as the Bruins weren’t able to do anything with the 1:36 of power-play time. They will have 24 seconds to try and score to open the third with fresh ice.

Second period, 18:24, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins will get a power play despite a questionable hit from Dennis Seidenberg.

Seidenberg caught Nick Foligno up high with a shoulder. After the play ended, Foligno tried to fight someone, or anyone, and eventually tried to get after Seidenberg.

When the dust settled, though, Foligno got the two minutes for unsportsmanlike, and he also got a 10-minute misconduct to boot.

Second period, 17:54, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins weren’t able to score on the power play, but it wasn’t for a lack of chances, at least not from the first unit.

The B’s top power-play unit was relentless for the first minute-plus of the man-advantage, but they just couldn’t take advantage of the chances. Jarome Iginla struggled to lift a puck in front, while Zdeno Chara couldn’t get to a loose puck to the in front of the net with the cage wide open.

Second period, 15:17, Bruins 2-0: Gregory Campbell looked to have a great scoring chance in front, but he couldn’t convert — because of that, though, the Bruins are going on the power play.

Campbell was hooked by Mark Letestu as the B’s center went to try and finish a second-chance opportunity in front, and the Bruins will get their third power play of the night.

Second period, 15:09, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins continue to tilt the ice, as most evidenced by their 18-7 advantage in shots on goal.

The Bruins’ top line — with Carl Soderberg on the left wing as Milan Lucic served his fighting major — just had a great chance in front when David Krejci fed a backhanded centering pass from below the goal line to Jarome Iginla. As has been the case so far this season, Iginla couldn’t convert. He was robbed by Curtis McElhinney at point-blank range, and the Bruins forward couldn’t convert on the rebound.

Second period, 12:00, Bruins 2-0: Boston was able to easily kill off the penalty to Johnny Boychuk.

The Blue Jackets struggled for much of the man-advantage to move the puck very efficiently in the Boston zone, but they did get a couple of shots late in the power play.

Chad Johnson made a nice kick save on a James Wisniewski slap shot that Johnson kicked to the corner and allowed the Bruins to clear.

Second period, 9:49, Bruins 2-0: The Blue Jackets haven’t been able to do much of anything through a period and a half, but they will get a power play to try and jump-start the offense.

Johnny Boychuk just took a delay of game penalty, and the league’s 12th-ranked power play will get its first try of the evening.

Second period, 8:34, Bruins 2-0: Milan Lucic brought his big-boy pants for this one, as he has all season.

He just hit Dalton Prout behind the Columbus net, and that didn’t sit very well with Prout, who immediately shoved Lucic back. As soon as the two of them realized the play in the CBJ end had finished, they immediately dropped the gloves and threw some big right hands.

That was a pretty even fight between two tough hombres.

Second period, 4:58, Bruins 2-0: The Blue Jackets were able to do a better job of clearing the puck on this Bruins penalty kill, and the two minutes expire without a goal from the B’s.

Second period, 2:49, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins will get a chance to add another power-play goal here.

Fedor Tyutin was just called for hooking, and the B’s will look for their second goal on the man-advantage of the evening.

Second period, 0:32, Bruins 2-0: Brad Marchand continues to go to the agitating thing, and he’s going to sit for two minutes. 

He was just given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for messing around with Matt Calvert, and Calvert was also given a penalty. So we’ll be playing 4-on-4 for the next two minutes.

Second period, o:01, Bruins 2-0: The second period is underway.

End first period, Bruins 2-0: The second period just ended, and it happened not a minute too soon for the Blue Jackets.

The Bruins just absolutely dominated play in the first 20 minutes, and they lead 2-0 at the end of one. Boston outshot Columbus 8-2 in the first.

First period, 14:58, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins’ first power-play unit has struggled some lately, but they just looked really, really good and the B’s have a 2-o lead because of it.

Torey Krug wound up and tried to hammer a slap shot from the right side of the top of the slot, but he didn’t get great wood on the shot. That worked out perfectly for the Bruins, though, as Milan Lucic tipped it in from right in front of the net.

This has been a dominant effort so far in the first for the Bruins.

First period, 14:36, Bruins 1-0: It’s hard not to be impressed with the way Carl Soderberg has played lately, and he continues to build on it.

The Swedish forward just drew a penalty, as he weaved into the slot before he was hooked by Ryan Johansen before Soderberg could get a shot off.

The Bruins are going on the game’s first power play.

First period, 13:22, Bruins 1-0: We’re seeing, for the most part, the return of Brad Marchand’s game. He’s been one of the best players on the ice so far in this one, and we’re also seeing the agitating come back into his game.

He just got into some pushing, shoving and pleasantries with Dalton Prout after a whistle. Say what you want about Marchand as a player, but he’s at his best when he’s engaged like that, so it’s obviously a good sign for the Bruins.

It also helps that he’s buzzing in the offensive zone as well after scoring Friday against New York.

First period, 9:31, Bruins 1-0: We’re just now getting our first TV timeout of the first period, as whistles have been few and far between.

Prior to the Patrice Bergeron goal, the Bruins’ best chance came from Daniel Paille in front. He was fed a pass from Shawn Thornton, but Paille ended up pushing the one-timer chance wide of the net.

There have only been five shots combined on net so far.

First period, 9:02, Bruins 1-0: The first period had gone by without not much of anything really happening at all — until now.

Patrice Bergeron just scored his second goal in as many games when he just threw the puck on net from outside the right faceoff circle. Loui Eriksson did a good job of getting traffic in front, and looeked like Curtis McElhinney never even saw the puck.

First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is underway.

6:55 p.m.: No surprise, really, but the Bruins are going to go with the same lineup they used Friday afternoon. That means both Jordan Caron and Matt Bartkowski will be the healthy scratches.

See the full lineups by clicking here.

6:30 p.m.: Pregame warmups are underway, and it’s going to be a battle of the backups.

Chad Johnson led the Bruins onto the ice, while Curtis McElhinney was first on for the Blue Jackets.

6:25 p.m.: Welcome into TD Garden where we’re moments away from starting warmups and about 45 minutes from the puck dropping on Bruins-Blue Jackets.

The Bruins are hoping they can start to get Jarome Iginla going soon in terms of goal-scoring. One of the greatest goal-scorers of his generation, Iginla hasn’t been able to find the back of the net with his regular consistency so far in his Bruins tenure. Iginla has just five goals in 26 games this season. It’s a bit of a departure from last season where he had seven goals in just 21 games to open the season. He’s not necessarily a stranger to slow starts, but we’re about a third into the season, and it’s not really “early” anymore per se. There is something to be said for the fact that Iginla is 36 years old, so it’s unrealistic to expect him to be a 50-goal scorer or anything like that, but the Bruins still need more production out of him.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien isn’t too concerned.

“I like his game, he’s working hard, he’s physical, he’s battling, he’s making good plays and the only thing right now is that those pucks aren’t going in as much as he’d like to,” Julien said Saturday morning. “We know that Iggy [Jarome Iginla], again I said that before, when Iggy starts scoring goals they come in bunches. So I think it’s just a matter of time, but the main thing is his game is still good and he’s still doing a lot of good things out there.”

3 p.m.: The Bruins have become very familiar with back-to-backs this season, and they’ll play yet another one Saturday night at TD Garden.

Boston will play its third game in four days Saturday night when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in Boston. The B’s are coming off of some mixed results in their last two games, as they rebounded for a 3-2 win over the Rangers on Friday afternoon, which came two days after being throttled 6-1 by the Red Wings.

When it comes to the standings, this one is a bit of a mismatch. The Bruins come in with the most points in the Eastern Conference while the Blue Jackets are in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division. However, the Bruins’ play has been a little uneven this season to say the least, and while the Jackets’ record indicates they haven’t been great, they are a tough team to play against. The two teams have already met twice with the Bruins winning both games, but the B’s needed to do so in overtime on Nov. 14 after blowing a lead.

Both teams played Friday — the Blue Jackets defeated the Oilers in Columbus — so both teams had optional morning skates. We’ll know more about the lineups after pregame skate at 6:30 p.m.

Puck drop is set for 7.