charlie-coyle-bruins-blue-jacketsPhoto Courtesy Of Sports Illustrated

By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

Home: Boston Bruins (5-3)

Away: Columbus Blue Jackets (4-1)

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak

DeBrusk-Krejci-Heinen

Johansson-Coyle-Wagner

Nordstrom-Kuraly-Acciari

Defense

Chara-McAvoy

Krug-Carlo

Grzelcyk-Clifton

Goalies

Rask

Halak

Columbus’s Lineup

Forwards

Panarin-Dubois-Atkinson

Foligno-Duchene-Anderson

Texier-Wennberg-Bjorkstrand

Dubinsky-Jenner-Nash

Defense

Werenski-Jones

Kukan-Savard

Harrington-Clendening

Goalies

Bobrovsky

Korpisalo

First Period

Both teams got off to an energetic start especially the Bruins who threw their weight around with a few big hits. Neither team was able to get much of an attacking rhythm in the early going as not many shots were attempted. The Bruins would go to the power play with 13:31 left in the period as Josh Anderson went off for interference in front of the Boston net. Matt Grzelcyk found the back of the net over a minute into the man advantage to give the Bruins the lead.

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The Blue Jackets responded with a good shift which nearly resulted in them tying the game but the B’s defense remained strong. The game began to get a bit more physical especially after a battle in the corner in the Columbus end. The Bruins started to find an offensive rhythm with a few chances in the attacking zone but the score remained the same.

Columbus continued to have trouble generating scoring chances which resulted in them scrambling their forward lines to find some offense late in the period. A scrum behind the Boston goal after the period ended continued the physical tone the period had.

Score: 1-0 Bruins

Second Period

The Blue Jackets picked up a power play at the end of the period as Brad Marchand served his first penalty of the postseason. Artemi Panarin blasted home the tying goal on the man advantage just over a minute into the middle period.

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The Bruins answered right back with a goal less than a minute after the Panarin goal as Charlie Coyle banked a puck in off of David Pastrnak past Sergei Bobrovsky as the B’s regained the lead.

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The Blue Jackets responded once again with a solid shift in the Boston end following the go ahead goal. The B’s would go shorthanded again as Zdeno Chara was called for tripping Cam Atkinson with under 14 minutes left in the period. The Bruins caught a break while shorthanded as Anderson was guilty of a high stick on Sean Kuraly which resulted in a four on four. Panarin made it two goals on the night after a bad turnover in the defensive zone and the Blue Jackets tied the game once again.

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The Blue Jackets killed off the ensuing power play despite the Bruins moving the puck very effectively. The second period had a much more frenzied pace as both teams skated very well but the Bruins continued to have trouble with turnovers especially in the defensive zone.

Score: Tied 2-2

Third Period

The Bruins got some solid scoring chances in the opening moments of the final period but were unable to solve Bobrovsky for a third time. The B’s seemed to be the aggressor in early going of the third, generating sone pressure in the offensive zone. Shots were hard to come by and the Bruins continued to pass up scoring opportunities to make an extra pass. The B’s started to struggle in the defensive zone as Columbus brought some pressure toward the midway point of the period.

Atkinson went to the box with 9:12 to go for tripping as the B’s looked to get the lead back. Boston failed to get any momentum on the man advantage as they couldn’t even manage a shot on goal. A long run of continuous play yielded a few scoring chances for both teams but neither could find the back of the net going into the final moments of regulation. Tuukka Rask made a gigantic save on Nick Foligno in the final minute to preserve the tie going into overtime.

End of Regulation: Tied 2-2

Overtime

Rask robbed Foligno yet again in the opening minutes of overtime with a ridiculous glove save off of a two on one rush. The Bruins held much of the possession in the early going of the extra period but couldn’t find any great scoring chances. A crazy bounce nearly went past Bobrovsky for the winning goal but he made the glove save on the bounce just over six minutes gone in the overtime. A couple of huge saves by Bobrovsky on Patrice Bergeron kept the game tied.

Charlie McAvoy took a high sticking penalty about halfway through the overtime period as Columbus looked to tie the series with a goal on the man advantage. The Bruins killed off the penalty as the Blue Jackets failed to get any legitimate chances in the offensive zone. Bergeron again has a great chance late in the session but Bobrovsky made another huge stop.

First Overtime: Tied 2-2

Second Overtime

Rask made another big save after a bad turnover in the defensive zone just seconds into the second overtime off the stick of Boone Jenner. Bergeron was whistled for tripping in the opening minutes of the second overtime session as the Blue Jackets got another chance on the man advantage. Matt Duchene ended it with a rebound goal in front on the man advantage as Columbus evened the series.

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Final Score: 3-2 Blue Jackets

Three Stars Of The Game

First Star: Bobrovsky. The game’s best player made the biggest saves in Game 2 and was the main reason why the Blue Jackets evened the series.

Second Star: Panarin. The Russian winger was outstanding and tallied three points in the victory for Columbus.

Third Star: Rask. The Bruins goaltender kept them in the game with a couple big saves in the overtime sessions but ultimately came up a bit short.