The Boston Bruins looked doomed for a blowout loss Monday night.
The B’s came out flat in their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, posting arguably their worst first period of the season. The Jackets notched two goals in the opening 20 minutes, while Boston only registered four shots and zero scoring chances.
To make matters worse, Columbus extended its lead to three just over eight minutes into the second period. The Bruins’ offense finally woke up late in the second with a Patrice Bergeron goal and rallied to even the score in the third period thanks to tallies from Torey Krug and Brad Marchand.
Boston’s comeback was impressive, but Columbus ultimately earned the two points with a 4-3 shootout win. The Bruins’ resiliency never has been in question, but there was no denying what went wrong in the team’s second consecutive overtime loss.
“We have a lot of character in our dressing room, so you realize it wasn’t the way we want to play,” Tuukka Rask said, as seen on NESN’s Bruins postgame coverage. “You come here (locker room), regroup and get pissed at yourself and start playing better, and I thought we did. Even though we gave up the third goal there, we battled back and found a way to get a point. That’s a big point.”
The B’s have what it takes to battle back, as manifested by their multiple multi-goal comebacks in the young season. Brad Marchand appreciated the fight shown Monday night, but he realizes big comebacks cannot become a steady theme moving forward.
“We didn’t start the way we wanted,” he said. “They came out hard. We did a good job of climbing back and get a point out of it. But we can’t play many games like that or we’re going to have a tough year.”
If the Bruins can start playing as well in the first period as they’ve been playing in the third, the Black and Gold could start to see the wins pile up.
Here are some other notes from Bruins-Blue Jackets:
— Marchand’s game-tying goal was the 200th of his career.
— Boston has reached overtime in three games this season but has failed to earn a win.
— Charlie McAvoy paced the Bruins with 29:19 time on ice. Zdeno Chara posted the second-highest mark at 24:08.
— Marchand currently is tied for fourth in the NHL in goals with eight.
— Penalties were a major issue for the Bruins, as they featured 42 penalty-infraction minutes compared to the Blue Jackets’ 18.
Thumbnail photo via Russell LaBounty/USA TODAY Sports Images
