Boston Bruins vs Columbus Blue JacketsPhoto Courtesy Of The Boston Herald

By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Home: Columbus Blue Jackets (5-1)
Away: Boston Bruins (5-4)

Columbus’s Lineup

Forwards

Panarin-Dubois-Atkinson
Foligno-Duchene-Anderson
Dzingel-Wennberg-Bjorkstrand
Dubinsky-Jenner-Nash

Defense

Werenski-Jones
Kukan-Savard
Harrington-Clendening

Goalies

Bobrovsky
Korpisalo

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-Heinen
DeBrusk-Krejci-Kuhlman
Johansson-Coyle-Pastrnak
Nordstrom-Kuraly-Acciari

Defense

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Grzelcyk-Clifton

Goalies

Rask
Halak

First Period

The Columbus crowd was into it from puck drop as it was clear early on that the Bruins were indeed in enemy territory. The B’s had some solid attacking zone rhythm in the opening minutes as both Patrice Bergeron and Charlie McAvoy had good scoring chances. The Bruins had good jump in the first few moments as they were able to string together some solid shifts. Tuukka Rask appeared to be on his game in the opening period making a few important stops including a nice kick save on a shot by Ryan Dzingel.
The Bruins seemed to be more responsible especially in the defensive zone by blocking shots and not allowing Columbus to establish an attacking rhythm. The B’s picked up their first power play of the game as Nick Foligno was called for slashing with under nine minutes left in the period. Columbus killed off the penalty without much resistance as the Bruins failed to move the puck in the offensive zone with any efficiency.
Both teams began to find an offensive rhythm in their respective attacking zones but neither team could solve the opponents goaltenders who faced some pretty good chances. Boone Jenner gave the Blue Jackets the late first period lead with a wrist shot off the rush that beat Rask with 1:23 left in the period.

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Torey Krug tripped Artemi Panarin shortly after the goal, giving Columbus a chance to double the lead before the intermission. The B’s killed off the remainder of the period with the Blue Jackets still having over a minute left on the man advantage.
Score: 1-0 Blue Jackets

Second Period

The B’s killed off the rest of the Columbus man advantage without yielding any significant chances. The Bruins continued to get chances in the offensive zone but still were unable to solve Sergei Bobrovsky who kept the game scoreless early on in the second period. Rask also continued to have a solid game, making a quick succession of saves on Jenner and Seth Jones toward the midway point of the game.
The Blue Jackets continued to be incredibly physical in the second period which seemed to bother the Bruins who couldn’t get much of an offensive rhythm going. After a crazy scramble in front that nearly resulted in the second Columbus goal, Brad Marchand took a penalty for a stick which resulted in another Blue Jackets power play about midway through the period.
Matt Duchene buried a loose puck in front of Rask to double the Blue Jackets lead with over seven minutes remaining in the period.

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The Bruins responded with a good shift in the attacking zone but came away empty handed as they continued to struggle to get anything going offensively. Karson Kuhlman got a couple great chances after the goal as he continued his strong game back in the lineup for the first time in the series. Jake DeBrusk jammed home a loose puck with 39 seconds left in the period to give the Bruins some life.

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Score: 2-1 Blue Jackets

Third Period

The Bruins became a bit more physical early in the final period as they looked to impose their will to take over the game. The B’s did continue to get pucks to the net in the opening moments of the third as they looked to tie the game. The Bruins fourth line had a tremendous shift which nearly tied the game but Noel Acciari hit the post on a great chance from the slot set up by McAvoy.
The Bruins had very solid puck movement in the attacking but nothing more than they had previously in the game. Chances were there but again the Bruins had trouble converting them into goals. Rask continued his strong game with some nice stick play to deny chances for the Blue Jackets. Marchand drew a penalty with under nine minutes left as he was tripped skating down the slot. 16 seconds into the man advantage, Bergeron tripped Josh Anderson which resulted in a four on four.
The Bruins killed off the abbreviated power play and even got a few good looks at the net but still found themselves down a goal with over six minutes to go. The B’s continued to push hard for the tying goal seemingly ready to empty the tank to try to send the game to overtime. Rask went to the bench with about 2:20 to go. The Bruins failed to find the tying goal as the Blue Jackets took a 2-1 series lead.
Final Score: 2-1 Blue Jackets

Three Stars Of The Game

First Star: Bobrovsky. No doubt about this one as the Blue Jackets goaltender stole another game in the series, making 34 stops.
Second Star: Rask. The Bruin goaltender was nearly as good as Bobrovsky as he kept Boston in the game all night, withstanding a couple of big Columbus surges.
Third Star: Jenner. The fourth line for the Blue Jackets had a solid game, finding the back of the net and continuing to be incredibly physical.