By: Andrew Bluestein | Follow Me On X (Formerly Twitter) @adbblue
The Boston Bruins lost their third straight game to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 Monday night. It was arguably the worst performance of the season in a complete disaster of a game.
There was too much standing around and a lack of intensity all night. They completely lacked structure, which has been a trend in the last three games.
First Period
The Bruins had a really strong opening shift, immediately jumping on the attack. Charlie Coyle had a point-blank chance but was stoned by Spencer Martin. Boston then had an early power play opportunity. But could not capitalize. They had another great opportunity when Jakub Lauko hit the crossbar, and then everything went downhill.
Columbus had a great chance of their own when Johnny Gaudreau had a breakaway but was denied by Jeremy Swayman. The Blue Jackets, however, opened the scoring when Dimitri Voronkov snuck the puck under Swayman, who was up against his post, to make it 1-0.
The Bruins were shorthanded for the final minute of the period when Derek Forbort took an interference penalty. Overall, it was a mostly even opening frame and Columbus led in shots on goal 13 to 12.
Second Period
Boston still had 1:03 of Forbort’s penalty to kill off to begin the second period, and they did so successfully. They then generated a few good looks shortly after but couldn’t finish. The Jackets extended their lead to 2-0 when Ivan Provorov beat Swayman with a seeing-eye shot from the left side.
Swayman was pulled after the goal, and head coach Jim Montgomery opted for Linus Ullmark. It was the first time this season Boston made a goalie change mid-game. There seemed to be a complete lack of urgency from the Black and Gold in the middle frame.
They played lazy hockey with not enough investment in the game. After it seemed like they had gotten some momentum back with a strong shift, a brutal turnover by Matt Grzelcyk led to a Yegor Chinakhov breakaway goal. That made it a 3-0 game. It was a poor second-period performance.
Third Period
The sloppy, undisciplined play continued into the third period. After Lauko took a hooking penalty, Hampus Lindholm shot the puck out of play, resulting in a delay of game penalty. Columbus took advantage and extended the lead to 4-0 after Kirill Marchenko buried a rebound in front.
The Bruins finally got on the board when Matt Poitras scored his first goal in ten games. That made it a 4-1 game. Jim Montgomery pulled the goalie with around seven minutes to go in full desperation mode.
It did not work as Justin Danforth scored, making it 5-1. John Beecher added a goal late to make 5-2. Yet, another no-show performance from the Bruins.
Up Next
Up next, the Bruins will return home on Thursday night to host the San Jose Sharks. It will be a 7:00 p.m. puck drop and the second and final game between the teams this season. Boston won the first meeting 3-1.
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