A wild comeback effort by the Boston Bruins came up short Tuesday night.
After scoring the game’s first goal, the B’s conceded five consecutive, but they marched back to trail by one heading into the third period. However, when all was said and done they fell 7-4 to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
Brad Marchand scored two goals for the Bruins, and also assisted on a Patrice Bergeron marker. Chris Wagner scored his 12th goal of the campaign. Boone Jenner notched a hat trick for the hosts, with Josh Anderson, Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel and Zach Werenski also lighting the lamp for the Blue Jackets.
Tuukka Rask made 19 saves on 24 shots before getting pulled for Jaroslav Halak, who made nine stops. Sergei Bobrovsky turned away 27 shots for the Columbus.
With the loss, the Bruins slipped to 42-19-9, while the Blue Jackets climbed to 39-28-3.
Here’s how it all went down:
ROUGH START
The Bruins got on the board early, but a lackluster period saw the Blue Jackets score the next three to take a 3-1 lead before the end of the opening 20. Columbus held a 13-4 shot advantage after one period.
It was the penalty kill that got the Bruins on the board first. After Brandon Carlo was whistled for interference at 3:29, Marchand sparked a 2-on-1 rush, saucing a puck to Bergeron, who rifled a shot over Bobrovsky’s right shoulder for a 1-0 advantage.
Columbus wasted little time in answering back, with Anderson beating Torey Krug to the edge and lifting a backhand over an outstretched Rask just 3:19 after Boston took the lead.
The Blue Jackets would take a 2-1 lead in fluky fashion, with Dzingel throwing a puck off Rask’s shoulder from behind the net that Rask knocked in while swinging behind his back trying to make the save.
Things continued to snowball, when the Bruins not only squandered a 5-on-3 power play, but gave up a shorthanded goal just seconds after Columbus gained a man back. Jenner, fresh out of the penalty box, stole a puck at his own blue line and nudged it ahead to Anderson, who couldn’t beat Rask with the initial shot. But Jenner was there to bury the rebound to give the Jackets a 3-1 lead with six seconds left in the frame.
WILD SECOND
The second period saw six goals, a goalie change and a fight. The Bruins fell down 5-1 at one point, but then battled back to trail 5-4 heading into the third period. Columbus outshot the B’s 15-13 in the period and held a 28-17 shot advantage through 40 minutes.
The Blue Jackets continued to bring it to the Bruins, taking a 4-1 lead 7:08 into the middle frame. Dzingel set up Duchene, who was allowed to walk right into the slot, in front of the net for the goal.
Things officially got ugly just one minute later, when Jenner potted his second goal after marching into the slot and lifting a puck over Rask’s blocker at 8:09, which prompted Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy to pull Rask from goal in favor of Halak with the B’s facing a 5-1 deficit.
But the Bruins weren’t done, getting one back at 13:07 thanks to Marchand sneaking a backhand past Bobrovsky on the far side.
Seconds later, Charlie McAvoy dropped the gloves with Artemi Panarin in a surprisingly epic fight that breathed more life into the visitors. Boston made it 5-3 at 15:36, with Wagner getting past the defense and beating Bobrovsky.
The frenzy continued, with Marchand notching his second of the game at 18:57 to make it a one-goal game.
The Blue Jackets gave themselves insurance with a power-play goal off the blade of Werenski at 12:21 following a Danton Heinen hooking minor.
The Bruins could not muster anything else from there, and Jenner iced it with an empty-netter to cap his first career hat trick with under a minute to play.
UP NEXT
The Bruins conclude their road trip Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets. Puck drop is slated for 8 p.m. ET.
This Bruins Wrap is presented by Plainridge Park Casino.
