Bruins Wrap: Boston Drops Third Straight Game In Ugly Loss Vs. Blue Jackets

The Boston Bruins fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 at Nationwide Arena on Monday night.

With their third consecutive loss, the Bruins fell to 14-4-3 on the season while the Blue Jackets improved to 7-12-4.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
For the third straight game, the Bruins fell behind early on the scoreboard and in this matchup couldn’t solve Blue Jackets goaltender Spencer Martin.

In an effort to spark the team, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery pulled Jeremy Swayman after giving up the Blue Jackets’ second goal at 5:38 of the second period. It appeared to swing momentum just a tad when Boston started to cycle in the offensive zone, but a mishandling of the puck at the blue line by Matt Grzelcyk sent Yegor Chinakhov in alone and he beat Linus Ullmark blocker side for the 3-0 Columbus lead.

In a second attempt to generate some offense, Montgomery pulled Ullmark with just over seven minutes left to play in regulation for the extra attacker in the offensive zone. Columbus was able to clear the zone and skate down the loose puck to negate an icing call and Justin Danforth potted the empty net goal for the Blue Jackets fifth goal of the game. It was the first time the Bruins surrendered five goals in three consecutive games since 2012.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Spencer Martin entered the matchup 1-5-1 on the season and stopped 31 of 33 Boston shots in the game for his second win of the campaign.

— Chinakhov had a multipoint game for Columbus when the Blue Jackets forward recorded a goal and an assist in the win.

— Poitras lit the lamp for the Bruins in the third period. He registered one shot in 16:22 minutes of ice time and won 54.5% of his faceoffs taken.

WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook set the odds at +370 that Poitras would score a goal in the game. The rookie cleared those odds with his fifth goal of the season in the third period. A $100 bet on the Boston forward would have yielded a $470 payout.

UP NEXT ON NESN
The Bruins return home following the brief two-game road trip to host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch it live on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.