It's not going well.
Saturday night's meeting between the Blue Jackets and Bruins in Boston was their second of three meetings this season. Boston took the first meeting, 5-4, in a shootout on March 5th in Columbus at Nationwide Arena.
Prior to the game Saturday night at TD Garden, the Bruins honored former Blue Jackets captain and current Bruin Nick Foligno for 1000 career NHL games played. It was also the return to Boston for Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly, who spent five seasons with the Bruins.
The Bruins opened the scoring at the 15:09 mark on a shot from Erik Haula. Assists went to David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| BRUINS | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
The Blue Jackets evened it up at one at the 19:32 mark courtesy of an up-close shot by Gustav Nyquist for his 17th goal of the season. Assists went to Cole Sillinger and Adam Boqvist.
Gus gets us on the board pic.twitter.com/s9EZYr98lJ
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 3, 2022
The first period finished with Boston leading in the shot category 15-5 and the scoreboard reading 2-2.
In the second period, on a shot from up close, Justin Danforth put the Blue Jackets ahead 2-1 less than a minute in at the 42-second mark. The goal was his seventh of the season. Assists went to Yegor Chinakhov and Sean Kuraly.
Things you love to see - THIS DANFORTH GOAL pic.twitter.com/tMr7c6qkLb
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 3, 2022
The Blue Jackets lost their lead at the 18:13 mark when the Bruins evened it up on a shot from Brad Marchand. Assists went to Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk. Shots finished 27-13 in favor of Boston with the scoreboard reading 2-2.
At the 14:06 mark in the third, Andrew Peeke went off for hooking, giving Boston their first power play of the night.
#NHLBruins going on the power play at 14:06 of the third. #CBJ Peeke is heading off.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 3, 2022
The Bruins scored on that power play right as it expired on Erik Haula's second of the night. The goal was Boston's second straight after falling behind 2-1. Assists went to Brandon Carlo and Hampus Lindholm.
With Merzlikins pulled, the Bruins jumped on the empty net putting it home for a 4-2 lead on a goal from Jake DeBrusk, his second point on the night. Assists went to Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy.
Acting head coach, Pascal Vincent opted to pull Merzlikins once again.
Unfortunately, it was the same result with Boston pouncing once again with six seconds left making it 5-2 on a shot from Charlie Coyle. Assists went to Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.
The game finished with shots reading 42-24 in favor of Boston and a 5-2 final on the scoreboard.
Injury Update
The Blue Jackets remained without goalies Daniil Tarasov and Joonas Korpisalo due to hip injuries. Forward Boone Jenner remains sidelined week-to-week with a lower back injury. All-Star defenseman Zach Werenski remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Next Up
The home-and-home series continues Monday when the Bruins make the trip to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets at 7:00 p.m.
