The Bruins Enjoyed Their Brief Stay At Home As They Beat the Blue Jackets 2-1 In Overtime

No matter where you go on a trip, it's always a nice feeling to come home where you feel most comfortable and familiar with your surroundings. In that respect, pro athletes are just like us as they typically play much better in their own backyard. The Bruins (43-20-9) were gone all last week on a painful road trip that ended with three losses and no wins. Injuries throughout their lineup was becoming a major issue but at least for one night, that was forgotten as they outlasted the Blue Jackets (40-28-4) 2-1 in overtime this evening at TD Garden. Yes, those were the same clubs that played to a crazy 7-4 Columbus victory in Ohio on Tuesday. What else can I say, hockey is weird.

Jake DeBrusk returned after missing the past five games with a lower-body injury and with the most famous Irishman in the world in the house-Conor McGregor-Brad Marchand scored the game-winning goal then celebrated with the MMA star's hilarious signature strut. Boston extended their home win streak to 11 games and their home point streak is up to 13 games (11-0-2) which is their longest since a 15-game stretch (13-0-2) from Oct. 31-Dec. 27, 2014. With home ice in the playoffs in mind (there are only 10 games left in the regular season for the B's), it was a particularly important two points since Toronto (43-24-5) got walloped 6-2 at Ottawa (25-41-6) earlier tonight. That puts Boston four points ahead of the Maple Leafs who also have 10 games remaining.

Boston improved to 9-6 in overtime this season while Columbus fell to 8-3 in the extra session. The pity point was valuable to the Blue Jackets though since they are in a serious fight with Carolina (39-25-7) for the two Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference with Montreal (37-28-7) only three points behind Columbus. It wasn't an instant classic performance which is probably to be expected with the patchwork Bruins lineup and the fact that the Jackets were playing in their second game of a back-to-back. The B's scored first and never trailed as Patrice Bergeron (6th Bruin to reach 800 career points) swept in a backhander for a power play goal at 5:51 of the first period. His 27th goal of the season was assisted by Marchand and David Krejci. Bergy (10 goals, 13 assists) and Marchy (11 goals, 19 assists) amazingly each have 16-game point streaks still going at the Garden. Krejci is having a fantastic season as well, he's the only Bruin to play in all 72 games in 2018-19 while he has eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in his last six games and 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) in his last 16 games.

Columbus fittingly scored on their best chance of the contest when Matt Duchene sped around John Moore and roofed a shot over Jaroslav Halak's (24 saves, 19th win of the season) glove at 16:52 of the first period. The former Senator's (and Avalanche) 30th goal of the season was assisted by Markus Nutivaara and David "Don't Call Me Marc" Savard. Towards the end of their 19-game point streak, Boston played a few of these low-scoring tight contests so they are used to the small margins for error. While regulation wasn't the most exciting 60 minutes of hockey, overtime was much more action-packed as both teams had glorious scoring chances (Boston outshot Columbus 4-3 in OT and 33-25 for the game). You'll have a hard time finding two more clutch teammates in the NHL than Bergeron or Marchand. Bergeron sauced a backhand no-look pass to Marchand who one-timed in his 15th career overtime goal (increasing his Bruins record) at 3:30. His 31st goal of the season was also Bergeron's 40th assist (4th time in his career he's reached that mark). Finally, Marchand has the most OT tallies (11) since the NHL instituted 3-on-3 in 2015-16.

After an off-day on St. Patrick's Day, the B's will practice on Monday before heading to Long Island where they take on the Islanders (41-23-7) on Tuesday (7, NESN). That's the beginning of a four-game road trip that also includes visits to New Jersey (27-36-9) on Thursday (7, NESN), Florida (32-27-12) on Saturday night (7, NESN) and mighty Tampa Bay (55-13-4) a week from Monday (7:30, NESN). Boston has been great at home (28-7-3) all year and they have the second-best record to prove it, trailing only the Lightning (30-6-2) who are having a regular season for the ages. The B's are only two games over .500 (15-13-6) on the road this season so that's an area that needs to be tightened up before the playoffs start in a few weeks.

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