Bruins Rookies Combine for 9 Points (3 Goals, 6 assists) As Boston Hangs a TD & PAT on Columbus

All season long, we've heard about how many standout rookies that the Bruins (16-10-5) possess in their lineup for every game. Tonight at TD Garden was a collective explosion for this very talented group of youngsters as they posted nine total points (3 goals, 6 assists) in a 7-2 blowout of Columbus (20-13-1). As you would expect, defenseman Charlie McAvoy was the headliner as he recorded Boston's first Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight) since Zdeno Chara did the deed over four years ago (Nov. 29, 2013 vs. Rangers). Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk both notched three points on a goal and two assists.

Boston never trailed as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the game and they scored four goals in the third period to complete the lopsided final result. Brad Marchand made it 1-0 B's at 14:48 of the first period as he jumped on a loose puck for his 14th goal of the season (1 behind David Pastrnak for the team lead), assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Chara. The Bruins' power play has heated up recently with goals in six of their last seven contests (8 for 28, 28.6%). David Backes and McAvoy scored this evening's power play strikes just 3:30 apart in the second period to extend the Boston lead to 3-0. DeBrusk had the primary assist and Heinen the secondary assist on both special team markers-Backes' third of the season and McAvoy's fifth of the season.

Sergei Bobrovsky (38 saves) came in with rough numbers vs. Boston (now 2-5-2 in his career) and they only got worse as that old scrooge Blue Jackets head coach and Masshole supreme John Tortorella kept him in net for the entire whitewashing. Season's Beatings! After McAvoy fought your boy Pierre-Luc Dubois early in the third period-the first NHL fight for both guys-Columbus' Josh Anderson made sure that Tuukka Rask (16 saves, 9th win of the season) didn't get a shutout although he did extend his point streak to 7 games (6-0-1). In garbage time of the third, the Bruins pumped in four goals and it could have been even more since Tim Schaller of all people earned a penalty shot (Boston's first in over a year) but was predictably stopped on a weak backhander.

Heinen (8th goal of the season), Torey Krug (5th goal of the season), Patrice Bergeron (8th goal of the season) and DeBrusk (7th goal of the season) turned it into quite the romp with padding the stats type goals. Also of note from the full box score by the B's: Ryan Spooner had two assists, Anders Bjork added a helper after being a healthy scratch on Saturday vs. New York (for the 1st time in his young career) and David Pastrnak set a new career-best point streak (12 games, most in the NHL at this moment) with an assist.

This was a start of a busy week for the Bruins as they have four games in six days: they are in Buffalo (8-18-7) tomorrow night (7:30, NESN) to face Jack Eichel and the worst team in the Eastern Conference. David Krejci was a late scratch tonight with an upper-body injury and Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said that he won't travel with the team to Upstate NY. Anton Khudobin (7-2-2) should be between the pipes as he bids for his first win in nearly a month (Nov. 24 vs. Pittsburgh). Boston has a chance to put some pressure on Toronto (20-13-1) who is in second-place in the Atlantic Division and four points ahead of the B's (who have 3 games in hand on them).

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