One Big Takeaway From Bruins’ Deflating Loss Vs. Blue Jackets

The Bruins’ woes continued Monday with a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden.

Boston’s trip to the loss column dropped the team to 8-9-3 on the season, while Columbus improved to 7-9-2, with just their second road win of the season.

Coupled with no offensive momentum, the Bruins didn’t do themselves any justice by coughing up two critical shorthanded tallies in the first and third periods of the game.

The Bruins had their chances on the power play — six opportunities, to be exact, but were only able to capitalize on one when Charlie Coyle potted his fourth goal of the season in the second period to cut Boston’s deficit to 3-1.

The Bruins’ power play may have struggled, but the penalty kill was perfect, keeping the Blue Jackets off the board on their two-man advantages.

The Blue Jackets lit the lamp three times in the opening frame and added two more tallies in the third, bouncing back from their 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins was outstanding for the Blue Jackets, stopping 29 of 30 Bruins shots for his fourth win of the season.

Jeremy Swayman didn’t have a good night in net for the Bruins. He allowed five goals on 29 shots for a .828 save percentage. Swayman fell to 5-7-2 on the season.

The Bruins will look to get back in the win column as they continue their three-game homestand against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.