The Blue Jackets made it a tough game, but the Bruins stepped up in the third period.
Boston beat Columbus, 4-2, at TD Garden on Saturday. The win kept the Black and Gold's home points streak alive as the B's moved to 16-0-2 on home ice. This season's team surpassed the 2019-20 Bruins' home points streak. The 18 points for the 2022-23 Bruins are second in franchise history behind the 1973-74 Bruins, who had a points streak of 21.
"I thought in the third period we did our best job at checking, and I thought that checking led to more O-zone possession time. And I thought we managed the puck a lot better, which has been a sign for our team all year." Montgomery said, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "It hasn't been there consistently as of late."
Boston went up, 2-1, in the second period, but penalties and goalie Daniil Tarasov kept the Blue Jackets within distance of the game. But the Bruins pulled through in the third period, as they have done multiple times this season. The B's scored two goals in the final period but gave up one. Boston moved to an NHL-best plus-25 in the third period.
"Well after the first, I put an emphasis on checking," Montgomery said. "We went up, 1-0, and I thought we were in control of the game, and we kind of backed off like we did in the previous game. That didn't really work well in the second period. I told our captain, who's a great leader, to address the dressing room. I don't know what he said in between the second and third, but obviously, it worked a lot better than what I said. So he's going to be a really good head coach if he ever wants to be."
"I thought it was a better period. I think we're finding ways to get ahead, and our game slips after that," Patrice Bergeron told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "We're not always as sharp. We don't take care of details as well as we can, and it was just a reminder that we still have 40 minutes to play the right way and take it upon ourselves to be accountable for one another. I think it's the biggest thing, accountability for yourself to bring it and to know you're gonna do the right things and do the job and trust the guy next to you is going to do the same thing. I think it was just a reset and a quick reminder, and it wasn't that much that was needed to be said."
Here are more notes from Saturday's Bruins-Blue Jackets:
-- The Bruins honored Bergeron before the game for his milestone of 1,000 career points, which he accomplished with an assist on a Brad Marchand goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Nov. 21. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker met with the veteran center before the game and declared Dec. 17 "Patrice Bergeron Day."
-- Taylor Hall extended his points streak to four games and scored a goal in back-to-back games. Tomas Nosek notched a goal 19 seconds later to give the Bruins a cushion in the third period. It was the forwards' 13th and third goal of the season, respectively.
-- David Pastrnak scored the game's opening goal. It was his 20th of the season, and the winger joined Peter McNab and Bobby Orr to have seven consecutive seasons with more than 20 goals scored.
-- Jeremy Swayman rebounded from a tough loss to the Arizona Coyotes in his last start. The Bruins goalie continued his personal dominance at home. Swayman holds a 6-0-1 record, with a 1.73 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. The 24-year-old made 31 saves Saturday afternoon.
-- Boston will hope to continue its home points streak when it takes on the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Monday. Puck drop is scheduled at 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage of the game, along with an hour of pregame, on NESN.
