On The Eve of Their First Game In Months, the Bruins Ink Anders Bjork to a Three-Year Extension

Can you feel it in the air folks? Hockey is back! Sure, it's tough to get too geeked up about exhibition games in late July but let's remember that the last hockey games before this took place in mid-March. The Bruins play the Blue Jackets tomorrow night (7, NESN) in their lone exhibition game before their three seeding games begin this weekend as they play the Flyers on Sunday afternoon (3, NBC). With that in mind, Boston got some housekeeping done since in a normal year at this time, free agency in the NHL would basically be closed. B's GM Don Sweeney signed young forward Anders Bjork to a three-year (through the 2022-23 season) contract extension with an annual cap hit of $1.6 million.

Obviously, if you made a list of most important Bruins both in this (fingers crossed) restart and going forward, Bjork would be nowhere near the top of that group. However, wrapping up his third season in Boston and at the ripe old age of 23, you can begin to understand how valuable Bjork can be in the near future. Hampered by numerous injuries his first two years with the Bruins-where he played a combined 50 games-he finally was able to start to show his potential in 2019-20 by playing 58 games for the best team in the NHL.

He had nine goals (including one on the power play), 10 assists and he was plus-five. A lefty shot, he has played all over Boston's lineup and since this group reconvened a few weeks ago in Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, he's been spotted all over the place from the first line (right wing when David Pastrnak was out) to the third line (he alternated at right wing with Karson Kuhlman) where he skated this afternoon at the team's practice in Toronto. With Ondrej Kase on the side of a milk carton and Nick Ritchie similarly nowhere to be seen lately, Bjork could have a bigger role than most outside the team expect in the NHL playoffs the next few months.

The pedigree has always been there for Bjork, a native of Wisconsin who was an alternate captain at Notre Dame where he had a decorated career. He also played for two years with the U.S. National development team (where many top American hockey players go; his B's teammate Matt Grzelcyk also spent time there) in 2012-14 before getting drafted in the fifth round (146th overall) by the Bruins in 2014. Anders agreed to an entry-level deal on May 30, 2017 and made the Bruins out of camp that following season, making his NHL debut on October 5 vs. Nashville.

No doubt these NHL playoffs will be different than any that have ever occurred before-in a bubble city with no crowds-but odds are that at least one of our favorite aspects of the best tournament in sports will hold true: there are always random guys for every team that step up in the biggest moments. I'm certainly not predicting any grandeur for Bjork but he fits the profile of someone who casual fans will be like "Who!?" when he scores an overtime goal in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Probably thanks to his time in Ann Arbor (with the U.S. team) and South Bend, he is mature beyond his years and has the defensive forward style game that the Black and Gold love so if he can stay healthy (the main variable for him), he could be an important piece for the Bruins in upcoming seasons with so many older forwards (like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, etc.) eventually retiring.

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The B's Began 2020 In Similar Fashion to How They Ended 2019: With a Loss to an Inferior Team

New Year's Resolutions are usually reserved for people, not sports teams but I guarantee that the Bruins (24-7-11) came into 2020 looking for a fresh start when it came to their mind-numbing struggles in both overtime (2-5) and shootouts (0-6). After blowing a two-goal lead on New Year's Eve in Newark, NJ then losing 3-2 in a laborious six-round shootout to the awful Devils (15-19-6), they started off the New Year with a 2-1 overtime loss this evening at TD Garden to the Blue Jackets (19-14-8). For the fourth game in a row, Boston was held to three goals or less (2-0-2) and not surprisingly, this lack of offense has led to some spotty results.

On the one hand, Columbus came into this contest with a season-best 11-game point streak (7-0-4) but on the other, they were missing their All-Star goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (17-10-4) and were forced into playing their terrible backup goalie Elvis (insert your very dated joke here) Merzlikins (31 saves) who had one career NHL win to his ironic name. I feel like I say this all the time but it was tough to pin this loss squarely on Tuukka Rask's (25 saves, 15-5-5) shoulders since the two Blue Jacket goals came via a deflection off a Bruins defensemen then an unstoppable one-timer from point blank range on a 2-on-1.

Another reason that Boston should not have lost this first meeting with the Blue Jackets since the second round of the playoffs last spring is that the Bruins' varsity roster was back with Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy and David Krejci all returning from brief injury-related absences. This meant no Brett Ritchie (healthy scratch where he belongs), Steven Kampfer (scratched) or Jeremy Lauzon (sent back to Providence) who had all faced New Jersey in one of the most lifeless losses of this campaign for the Black and Gold. Initially, it seemed like the luck had changed for the Bruins in 2020 at least in terms of coach's challenges (that feel like they never win). The Blue Jackets scored 17 seconds into this tilt on the first shot of the game for either club but Gustav Nyquist's goal was overturned after it was ruled that Boone Jenner had bumped into Rask.

Other than a big hit by Joakim Nordstrom of all people, that was about all that happened in the scoreless first period. The B's took a 1-0 lead a little over midway through the second period (at 11:07 to be exact) as David Pastrnak bombed a one-timer on the power play through former teammate Riley Nash's legs and past your favorite Latvian goalie (besides Columbus' backup Matiss Kivlenieks who was called up for the first time with Korpisalo out for an extended period of time). Pasta's NHL-best 30th goal of the season (the 4th season in a row that he's done that) was assisted by Krug and Patrice Bergeron. David has a nine-game point-streak (4 goals, 10 assists) and he is the fastest Bruin to reach 30 goals (in 42 games) since Cam Neely had 30 in 27 games back in 1993-94.

Columbus might not have much anymore (Artemi Panarin left in free agency for the Rangers last summer while Sergei Bobrovsky now plays for the Panthers) but they do possess the top defensive pairing in the league with Jones and Zach Werenski (game-high 27:00 of ice time). Coming off his first career hat trick on Tuesday vs. Florida, Werenski hit the post in the second period. The Blue Jackets tied it at 2:06 of the third period as BC dropout (look it up) Sonny Milano threw the puck in front and had it bounce off Matt Grzelcyk's leg then into the net. Milano's fourth goal of the season was assisted by BC little person Nathan Gerbe and Vladislav Gavrikov which might be the most Russian name that I've ever heard.

Boston has scored a power play goal in nine straight games and they have killed off 22 straight penalties dating back to Dec. 17 vs. LA (8 games) but those are the positive notes. The most troubling fact is that they continue to fail to put teams away in the third which usually is one of their trademark strengths. Merzlikins made two good saves on Anders Bjork then Danton Heinen and shortly after that, Pastrnak hit the post. Columbus is built to play close, longer games (now 6-6 in OT) so it was no surprise when they won it on the first shot on goal in overtime. Pasta missed the net with a re-direct on one end then Jones skated down the other side with Pierre-Luc Dubois and fed him for a one-timer that he put in the top shelf for his 14th goal of the season, 52 seconds into the extra session. Barf.

The Oilers (21-17-5) are here on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) for their only visit of the regular season. They remain a fringe playoff team at best which becomes more of a shame when you realize that they do nothing but continue to waste some incredible years by the best player in hockey-their once-in a generation center Connor McDavid (22 goals, 44 assists) who leads the NHL in points and assists. There are no automatic wins right now for the Bruins as the Devils debacle proved so while I'll concede that they should beat Edmonton, I don't feel super confident about that statement. Since we are all going to be worried sick about the Patriots' dynasty possibly ending for good later that night vs. Tennessee, couldn't the B's just treat all the kids sure to be in attendance to a laugher? Yeah, that would be fun (fingers and toes all crossed).

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The Bruins Push The Blue Jackets To The Brink Of Elimination With An Insane 4-3 Victory In Game 5

You could watch a lifetime of hockey and you might never see a more crazy third period in a playoff game than the one that took place tonight at TD Garden. Heading into the frame up 1-0, the Bruins later led 2-0 and 3-1 before the Blue Jackets scored twice to tie it up, setting the stage for David Pastrnak's incredibly clutch tally with 1:28 left in regulation. From there, Boston held on for the extremely important 4-3 win in Game 5 that gives them a 3-2 series advantage. Game 6 is at Nationwide Arena on Monday (7, NBC Sports) as the B's will get a chance to knock out the Jackets once and for all.

Believe it or not (given the final score), the story for much of this contest was the continued dominance of Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (33 saves). After playing one of the best games of his NHL playoff career on Thursday (a 4-1 victory at Columbus), he appeared poised to somehow top that with a shutout. In the span of 3:35, Columbus managed to score three goals to erase that two-goal deficit. In the long, storied history of the Black and Gold, this was only the second time ever that they had blown a multi-goal third period lead then recovered to still win it in regulation (1989, division semifinal at Buffalo).

Boston's first forward line (Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand) had been the best in the NHL not only this season but the last few which made their struggles earlier in the series vs. Columbus so puzzling. Were Pastrnak and Bergeron hurt or just in a major offensive drought at the worst possible time? They have certainly answered their critics with the back-to-back crucial wins that they starred in. Marchand (goal, 2 assists) and Pastrnak (2 goals) each had their best games of the postseason and Rask once again outplayed Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (32 saves) who is still making some of the best stops that you'll ever see.

Interestingly enough with the top two power plays left in the postseason (Columbus is #1 & Boston is #2), all seven of the goals came via 5-on-5 action. After a scoreless first period, David Krejci opened the scoring at 1:39 of the second. Who cares if he almost whiffed on the shot which actually helped it fool Bobrovsky? Jake DeBrusk and David Backes had the assists on Krejci's third goal of the playoffs (his 35th career playoff goal that moved him into 7th place on the club's all-time list). Boston doubled its lead at 4:51 of the third period on a Marchand goal and at that point with the way that Rask was completely shutting down the Jackets, you thought that would be more than enough. Bobrovsky robbed Marchand with a spectacular glove save but Brad stuck with it and beat the brilliant goalie with a snipe in basically the same spot. His fifth goal of the postseason was assisted by Quinnipiac's Connor Clifton (his 1st career playoff point!) and Bergeron.

Columbus' ill-fated comeback attempt fittingly started with another shady goal (at least it wasn't the boneheaded no call from Game 4 when the puck clearly went into the netting over the rink before the Blue Jackets scored on the same play). Seth Jones' shot deflected off Matt Grzelcyk's stick and Rask was hugging the near post but he wasn't able to keep it out of the net, apparently. It was called no goal on the ice then after a very lengthy review (and to the dismay of the Garden crowd), it was overturned for Jones' third goal of the playoffs. Zach Werenski and BC's Cam Atkinson had the assists on the goal by Jones who once again nearly played half of the game (he skated a game-high 29:49). 43 seconds later, Pasta ripped a laser by Bobrovsky who barely moved. Marchand had the lone assist but Pasta did most of the work on their 2-on-1; his fifth goal of the postseason was an understandably emotional moment for him after he'd been bashed for the last few weeks by local media and fans alike.

It's a real credit to the Blue Jackets that they still wouldn't die after that (when most other clubs would have) as Ryan Dzingel cut it to 3-2 with a top-shelf shot 51 seconds later. Matt Duchene and David Savard had the helpers on Dzingel's first point of the postseason. Even more unlikely than that, something named Dean Kukan (haha who the hell is that?) tied it up at 13:58 with a blast that went off of Brandon Carlo's skate. It was the first goal-regular season or playoffs-of Kukan's NHL career. Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson notched the assists on Kukan's tying goal which proved as always that if you give almost any NHL player that much time and space, they can hurt you in a major way. Assuming that you weren't dead already, the B's saved us further heart problems (for now!) since they bypassed (get it?) overtime for the excruciating third straight contest at home.

The Bruins left it to be decided late but doesn't the additional drama make it that much sweeter? Carlo started the winning sequence by stripping the puck from Panarin then Marchand threw it towards the Columbus net where Pastrnak was situated and he re-directed it enough to elude Bobrovsky to the far side. Needless to say, I think that Pasta's first career game-winning goal in the playoffs will be one that he'll never forget.

Boston now has a little bit of a cushion (2 chances to get 1 win) as they enter Game 6. Keep in mind that Carolina is relaxing and waiting for the winner of this series in the Eastern Conference Finals after they finished their sweep of the Islanders last night. Unlike the Leafs series, the Bruins have learned to give themselves some breathing room but make no mistake, they need to do everything in their power to eliminate Columbus as soon as possible. You don't want to see them and especially Bobrovsky in a Game 7 situation.

Some numbers to keep in mind for Monday: the Bruins are 10-16 all-time in Game 6s when they lead a best-of-seven series 3-2 while the Blue Jackets are 0-2 in Game 6s when they trailing a series 2-3. Also, Boston is 21-5 all-time in best-of-seven series when they lead in a series 3-2 and Columbus is 0-2 when they trail in a series 2-3. The B's have won their last two games and what better time to make it three in a row and reach their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2013 (vs. Tampa Bay) than Monday in Columbus?

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Counting On Surviving Overtime(s) In The NHL Playoffs Is No Way To Live For Very Long

With two teams that appear to be such mirror images of each other, both in terms of playing style and overall talent, it's no surprise that Boston and Columbus have required overtime to decide the first two games of their first-ever playoff meeting-in the 2nd round of the 2019 postseason. Tonight at TD Garden, the Blue Jackets took advantage of a critical mistake (tripping on Patrice Bergeron) as Matt Duchene scored a power-play goal in double overtime for a 3-2 Columbus victory and a series that is now tied at one game apiece.

Obviously the longer a game goes on, the tougher it is to swallow a crushing loss such as this but it only feels right that after Boston took Game 1 3-2 in overtime, Columbus returned the favor with an even later game-winning goal. As you can predict with so few goals, the best players for both teams were the goaltenders: Tuukka Rask was the hard-luck loser as he made 38 saves while Sergei Bobrovsky was no slouch with 28 of his own. Of course, Artemi Panarin (2 goals, assist) was also unstoppable for the Blue Jackets as he extended his point-streak to a franchise-record six games (4 goals, 5 assists).

For the second game in a row, the Bruins scored first which is often a harbinger of good things to come in any playoff contest. Their power play produced a tally as Matt Grzelcyk bagged his first career NHL playoff goal by blasting a shot through traffic at 7:50 of the first period. His BU buddy Charlie McAvoy along with David Krejci had the assists on the memorable goal for the pride of Charlestown, MA. Panarin answered early in the second period with a power play goal of his own: he unloaded on a one-timer from Seth Jones (who played a game-high 38:01!) and BC's Cam Atkinson. Panarin's third goal of the postseason came at 1:03.

The B's quickly responded to take a 2-1 lead as Charlie Coyle threw the puck in front from behind the net and it just so happened to deflect in off of David Pastrnak's skate. Maybe that'll get Pasta going again since he's looked like a shell (no pun intended, it's late!) of himself for almost all of the Toronto series and now definitely against Columbus. Pastrnak's third goal of the playoffs was also assisted by Marcus Johansson at 2:01. The Bread Man aka Panarin showed off some more of his superb skill set with another tying goal. Stationed below the faceoff dot in Boston's defensive zone, he beat Rask up high with an absolute snipe when it was 4-on-4. Jones had the lone assist on the stunning shot at 8:01 of the second period.

Since the first line hasn't looked like themselves in a bit, Boston was sloppy in the second period (outshot 10-7) but they found their legs in the third period (outshooting Columbus 8-7) yet they weren't able to end it in regulation. The B's managed to survive a high-sticking penalty on McAvoy in the first overtime and either Bergeron (who was robbed multiple times by Bobrovsky) or Coyle (who hit the post from the doorstep) should have won it right then and there. The lazy penalty by Bergy early in the second overtime was surprising but the fact that the Bruins lost because of that certainly was not. With so many tired guys, you can't expect to get away with that type of mental error. Duchene made a great play on the goal too as he kicked the rebound from his right skate to his stick (lefty) before burying the puck at 3:42. Panarin and Atkinson had the assists on what was probably the biggest goal of Duchene's career-remember that he was traded to Columbus from Ottawa earlier this season.

We at least know that there will be another game at the Garden in this round/postseason (Game 5 on Saturday night at 7:15 on NBC). Before then, Boston is off tomorrow followed by practice on Monday and travelling to Ohio. The fatigue from a seven-game series with the Leafs and then two overtime tilts right out of the chute vs. the Blue Jackets has probably taken a physical toll on the Bruins. They have been playing pressure packed games every other day for a few weeks so getting away from it all for a second should help them immensely. Game 3 is Tuesday (7, NBC Sports) and Game 4 is on Thursday (7:30, NBC Sports) at Nationwide Arena. Two more overtime games is unlikely but there is clearly very little separating these clubs so a pair of one-goal (or maybe two goals with an empty-netter) games seems like a reasonable expectation.

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Charlie Coyle Saves the B's With the Tying & OT Goal in a 3-2 Win vs. Blue Jackets In Game 1

Ahead of tonight's Game 1 of the second round between the Bruins and Blue Jackets, you couldn't help but wonder which was more important: rest (Columbus had last played nine days ago when they completed their historic sweep vs. Tampa Bay) or momentum (Boston closed out their grueling seven-game series vs. Toronto only two days ago)? Ultimately, the B's found a way to come out on top as Weymouth native and former BU star Charlie Coyle tied it late in the third period then scored the game-winning goal in overtime as Boston topped Columbus 3-2 at TD Garden to take a 1-0 series lead.

Other than a bounty of tallies, this contest had a little bit of everything: great goaltending, physicality, world-class goals, drama and a memorable comeback. Are you not entertained, haha what more could you ask for as a neutral hockey fan let alone as a Bruin honk? For much of the night, it looked like Noel Acciari's shorthanded goal midway through the first period (the 1st shorthanded goal of his NHL playoff career) would be the only goal of Game 1. Charlie McAvoy started the sequence by knocking the puck away from a Blue Jacket where Acciari was able to recover it and skate it down the ice before uncorking a beautiful low, hard shot past Sergei Bobrovsky (34 saves) at 10:34. It was the former Providence College star's first goal of this postseason and McAvoy's (former BU star, what up Hockey East?) third assist of the playoffs.

Boston actually should have been up by more than a goal after the first period since they blitzed a noticeably rusty Columbus, outshooting them 14-4. As you would expect, the Blue Jackets started to percolate in the second period as they outshot the B's 10-6 but they couldn't find the back of the net. Brad Marchand hit the crossbar early in the frame but surprisingly, the top two power play units in the league both went 0-for-4 on the evening.

Columbus tied it at one at 7:39 of the third period as Brandon Dubinsky was able to deflect in Seth Jones' shot which originally went off the stick blade of former Bruins great Riley Nash. It was the former Rangers forward's first goal and point of the postseason. Before Boston had a chance to take a breath, they trailed 2-1 as Pierre-Luc Dubois tipped in a shot by Artemi Panarin just 13 seconds later. Dubois' second goal of the playoffs also featured another helper by Jones. The Bruins had a little more than half a period to find a tying goal of their own and that's what they did thanks to Coyle. Marcus Johansson had a beautiful backhand sauce pass that Coyle was able to crank so hard on a one-timer that it bounced in and out of the net in rapid speed. Torey Krug had the second assist on Coyle's fourth goal of the postseason and at that point, probably the biggest goal of his life.

Strangely enough, neither team had played an overtime game in the first round so it seemed like the perfect way to kick off the second round of the NHL playoffs (this was the 1st game of the 2nd round). It didn't take the Black and Gold long to end it as they outshot the Blue Jackets 4-1 and once again the Coyle-Johansson emerging connection was money. This time (at 5:15), Johansson threw the puck to the side of the net where Coyle was perfectly stationed and able to redirect it in for the unforgettable goal. I can't imagine what it feels like to be a local guy and do something like that for the team that you grew up cheering for. Talk about a goosebumps inducing moment.

You'll remember that Boston never officially led in the first-round series vs. Toronto as they trailed 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before winning the final two meetings in epic fashion. Game 2 of this series is on Saturday night (8, NBC) and you better believe that the Bruins would love to put more pressure on the Blue Jackets who had never won a playoff series before a few weeks ago and never trailed against the chokeartist Lightning. Tuukka Rask (20 saves) wasn't nearly as busy as Bobrovsky but he made some quality stops and his solid play from the last few games vs. the Leafs appeared to carry over.

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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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Donato's Debut Was Everything You Could Have Hoped For (G, 2 As) but Columbus Wins In OT

Normally, a Monday night in mid-March against Columbus (40-28-5) isn't a typical setting for a memorable moment in Bruins (45-17-9) history but fans at TD Garden were treated to something special this evening. Boston's prized prospect Ryan Donato (son of Ted) skipped his senior season at Harvard to sign a two-year entry-level deal with the Bruins on Sunday night and wouldn't you know, there he was on the second forward line vs. the Blue Jackets with David Krejci and Danton Heinen after Rick Nash was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. Wearing Milan Lucic's old #17 jersey, the Scituate MA native and Dexter alum put together quite an NHL debut as he scored a goal and had two assists as Columbus pulled out a wild 5-4 victory in overtime. He's the first Bruin to have a multi-point outing in his first NHL game since Jarno Kultanen had three assists on Oct. 5, 2000. It was the eighth straight win for the Blue Jackets that also snapped a seven-game home win streak for the Bruins.

The Blue Jackets improved to an incredible 8-1 in overtime this season while the Bruins fell to 5-7 in the extra session. Coming off their best win of 2017-18 (3-0 at Tampa Bay on Saturday night), Boston couldn't match that masterful defensive effort as Columbus rallied from a 3-1 deficit and picked up two vital points as they took over the top Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The single point for the B's left them three points behind the Lightning (49-19-4) with a game in hand. Columbus struck first as Bruins killer Thomas Vanek as always made his presence felt by stealing the puck and feeding Boone Jenner who had the good fortune of deflecting the puck in off his knee at 4:15 of the first period for his 11th goal of the season (6-game point streak).

Boston trailed 1-0 after the first period but they came out flying in the second with three straight goals. Donato wasted no time bagging his first NHL goal as he worked a perfect give-and-go with Torey Krug and Heinen for a wicked one-timer at 5:41. Less than two minutes later, Brad Marchand gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a beautiful backhander that went top shelf on Columbus' backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (34 saves, 8-7-0) for his team-leading 31st goal of the season, assisted by David Pastrnak and Kevan Miller. It looked to be Boston's night when Riley Nash banged in a rebound for a power play goal at 16:32, his 15th tally of the season. Donato and Marchand had the assists for what has to be the recipient of NESN's 7th Player Award this season. Who has overachieved more than Riley Nash in this campaign, particularly with Patrice Bergeron out? The Blue Jackets answered 25 seconds later though as BC dropout Sonny Milano tapped in a pass from Ryan Murray. Captain Nick Foligno had the second assist on Milano's 12th goal of the season.

Simply so they don't have to continue to face his wrath, the Bruins should consider signing Vanek at some point in his career. I feel like he's a free agent every summer and/or available at each NHL trade deadline. He tied it at three at 5:38 of the third period with a textbook re-direct of Markus Nutivaara's shot. Jenner had the secondary assist on Vanek's 20th goal of the season. The Blue Jackets kept the momentum going as former Blackhawk Artemi Panarin whipped a shot by Tuukka Rask (20 saves, 30-11-5) at 11:30 for his 22nd goal of the season after a clean faceoff win by Foligno went right to his linemate. It didn't take the Bruins long to bounce back (hi Big Sean!) since David Krejci tied it 20 seconds later on a nifty little one-timer from Donato and Heinen for his 17th goal of the season.

Marchand had a breakaway early in overtime but despite plenty of contact from Columbus rookie forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, there was no penalty shot or even an infraction called. I say this as a fan of hockey not just a honk for the Bruins but what other player wouldn't have drawn a whistle there? That seemed like a perfect example of Marchand's checkered history costing him in a pivotal moment which is a shame to say the least. Former BC star Cam Atkinson won it for the Blue Jackets at 2:55, his 17th goal of the season (13 points in his last 12 games) was assisted by Murray and Alexander Wennberg.

Boston barely had time to unpack at home for a few days as they head right back on the road for another four-game road trip. They begin with two teams right outside the Western Conference playoff picture (at St. Louis on Wednesday then at Dallas on Friday) before closing with two teams that are more firmly situated in there (at Minnesota on Sunday night and at Winnipeg next Tuesday). The Bruins' next home game isn't until a week from Thursday (7, NESN) when they host Tampa Bay in what should be another huge matchup that could go a long way towards determining who wins the Atlantic Division. Bergeron (broken foot) skated today and while he, Zdeno Chara (upper-body) and David Backes (laceration behind his right knee) are out against the Blues (39-28-5), it sounds like they might return at some point on this trip.

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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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Did You Really Think That the Bruins Would Lose at TD Garden During Military Appreciation Night?

I think that we all could get used to this. For the second game in a row, Boston (8-6) notched an easy two points at home. This evening was Military Appreciation Night at TD Garden-always one of the best events of the entire season-so it was great to see the Bruins play well in front of so many deserving veterans and their wonderful families. Columbus (6-4-2) actually scored first but the B's rattled off the next five goals (including 4 in the first period in a span of 4:01) to roll to a 5-2 win.

Coming off a tough 3-2 loss at Montreal (12-1-1) on Tuesday, I'm going to pretend that nothing else notable happened that night in a certain presidential election, Tuukka Rask (15 saves, 8-1-0) was back in goal and life was good for the Black and Gold. The same couldn't be said for poor Sergei Bobrovsky (5 saves) who gave up four goals before he was pulled just 12:48 into the proceedings. The Blue Jackets surprisingly boast the top-ranked power play in the NHL and No. 2 penalty kill unit so the Bruins were happy to keep it mostly to a 5-on-5 contest with only three penalties called on the home team all game.

Alexander Wennberg stole the puck along the boards in Boston's end and fed Nick Foligno for Columbus' opening tally at 2:29. Foligno's goal was his fifth of the season and Wennberg is now the NHL leader with 13 assists (who knew?). Torey Krug finally broke his dry spell with his first goal of the season at 8:47 which tied things at one. His shot from the point deflected off Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray and it was assisted by the Davids (Krejci and Backes). 1:08 after that, Matt Beleskey also got off the goal-scoring schneid as his linemate Austin Czarnik capitalized on a Columbus turnover and fed him for a slap shot that Bobrovsky could only get a piece of.

The rookie Czarnik's speed was on full display as he scored his second NHL goal at 12:24. Beleskey had chipped it in the zone to Riley Nash who hit Czarnik for a 2-on-1 one-timer that he buried. 24 seconds after that, PC's Tim Schaller roofed a sweet backhander from in close (that had to be reviewed since it hit the camera in the net and popped out) which ended Bobrovsky's night for good. Dominic Moore (who was 13-3 on faceoffs as well) assisted on Schaller's second goal as a Bruin.

Backes made it 5-1 in favor of the B's in the second period at 11:51. His one-timer (his 3rd goal of the season) was assisted by Krejci and Ryan Spooner. The last Blue Jackets goal was something straight out of the soccer world as Colin Miller managed to stickhandle the puck right past Rask and into his own net at 8:40 of the third period. Undoubtedly, Sam Gagner was credited with the easiest goal (his 4th of the season) of his life.

Stop me if you've heard this before but the Bruins are headed back out on the road, a three-game road trip to be exact. This means that 11 of their first 17 games will be away from home. The good news is that in this limited sample size so far, they still look like a decent road team (5-3-0) while their next two contests this weekend are against the worst squads in the Western Conference: Arizona and Colorado are both 5-7-0. They are at the Coyotes on Saturday night (8, NESN) and then the Avalanche on Sunday night (7, NESN) before going to Minnesota (7-4-1) next Thursday (8, NESN). Their next home game isn't until Saturday, November 19 (7, NESN) vs. Winnipeg (6-7-1).

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Is It Too Late For the Bruins to Boycott and/or Skip All Their Home Games This Season?

Typically, I am very stubborn so I hate to admit defeat by not coming up with at least a half-ass explanation for almost everything that occurs in life. However, at this point in the 2015-16 regular season, I can only throw up my hands when it comes to the Bruins and say that I have absolutely no idea how a team that is so great on the road (20-7-3) can simultaneously be truly awful at home (12-15-3) after tonight's 6-4 loss to Columbus (24-29-7).

Boston was coming off a 4-2 road trip (its longest of the campaign) and its most impressive victory (7-3 in Dallas on Saturday night) so naturally they returned to TD Garden and laid another in a long line of rotten eggs. After beating the Blue Jackets 3-2 in a shootout here on January 23 and 2-1 in overtime last Tuesday in Columbus, the B's failed to get the all-important season sweep over one of the worst teams in the NHL. The Bruins never led as they were always chasing the game and they wasted a perfectly good performance by their offense (2 goals apiece for Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson) and a dominant night at the faceoff dot (44-25).

He didn't have a ton of help on defense but it was a rough game for Jonas Gustavsson (29 saves, 5 goals allowed). Boone Jenner's tip-in from BC's Cam Atkinson and Ryan Murray opened the scoring at 10:52 of the first period. It was the first of two power play goals for Columbus (who had been 1 for their last 16). Conversely, Boston's power play was 0 for 2, another reason why they didn't pick up any points. Eriksson scored his first tally 15 seconds after Jenner's initial score to make it 1-1. He deflected Torey Krug's shot and David Pastrnak had the second assist on Loui's 22nd goal of the season.

Columbus jumped on Boston to start the second period as Jenner sniped one past Gustavsson just 21 seconds into the frame. Seth Jones and Brandon Dubinsky assisted on his 21st goal of the season. Beleskey knotted it at two only 2:36 after that as he deflected in Joe Morrow's shot with Jimmy Hayes notching the second assist. William Karlsson (8th goal of the season, unassisted) blasted in a turnaround shot at 10:17 to put Columbus up for good at 3-2. Then Scott Hartnell deflected in Murray's shot for the other man-advantage goal at 17:21. Alexander Wennberg also assisted on Hartnell's 19th goal of the season. With so many pro scouts in attendance this evening, you'd have to think that a quality veteran like Hartnell would be in high demand (relatively speaking) with the trade deadline now a week away.

Beleskey made it interesting for a while in the third as he worked tirelessly to tip in another shot (from Kevan Miller) that trimmed Columbus' lead to 4-3 at 2:52. Morrow registered his second assist (for the second game in a row). Joonas Korpisalo (26 saves) made enough stops and former Blackhawk Brandon Saad added the insurance goal that the Blue Jackets needed at 14:29. His 22nd goal of the season was assisted by Hartnell and Wennberg. It came on a strange play as Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg went down to block the shot, only to lose his stick which Hartnell "accidentally" shot at Gustavsson. It was reviewed but similar to Columbus' fruitless challenge on Eriksson's first goal, it still stood up.

Eriksson is certainly doing everything he can to make sure his value is at its peak for next Monday: his second goal made it 5-4 Columbus at 17:03. The shot through traffic had eyes with helpers from David Krejci (team-leading 34th assist) and Pastrnak. Good old Dalton Prout lives for games in Boston apparently since Columbus' scrub defenseman scored his second goal of the season via an empty-netter (both of his goals have been here). Normally, home ice in hockey doesn't mean quite as much as homefield/homecourt advantage in baseball, basketball and football but the B's have made sure no logic applies to them this season.

That said, it'll be a difficult rest of the week as they are off tomorrow before they host Pittsburgh (30-20-8) on Wednesday (7:30, NBCSN), go to Carolina (27-23-10) on Friday (7, NESN) then another national TV game on Sunday (6:30, NBCSN) vs. Tampa Bay (33-22-4), who they are currently tied with in the Atlantic Division (although the Lightning have played one less game). You know that the Bruins will play great against the Hurricanes so I guess we should only worry about the Penguins (2 points behind Boston in Eastern Conference, in 2 less games) and the Lightning, two clubs who figure to be battling for playoff position with the Black and Gold the rest of the way.

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They Can't All Be Masterpieces but Bruins Will Take Two Points However They Can Get Them

When you play the worst team in any sport, nothing but a win will ever be tolerated. Predictably Boston (25-17-5) didn't make it easy on themselves as they blew a 2-0 lead against Columbus (17-27-5) tonight at TD Garden but things ended well enough as the Bruins survived 3-2 in a shootout. Backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson improved to 9-3-1 this season as he made 31 saves while Ryan Spooner and Torey Krug (game-winner) provided the shootout goals for the B's.

It's tough to quantify how much of a mess the Blue Jackets have been this miserable season; in fact, head coach John Tortorella wasn't even here after he broke two ribs in practice the other day. Haha it's been that kind of year for Columbus who also traded away their best player (Ryan Johansen) to Nashville a few weeks ago for defenseman Seth Jones. Former Bruin Gregory Campbell got a nice deal with the Blue Jackets so it's a shame to see him wasting away on a club that is going nowhere fast. This was his first game back in the Garden as a visitor so he was treated to a nice video montage on the Jumbotron and deserved standing ovation for someone who did plenty of good deeds in the community as well.

After a scoreless first period, Boston took a 1-0 lead just 32 seconds into the second when Brad Marchand tapped in a pretty passing sequence from Ryan Spooner and Patrice Bergeron. That was Marchand's team-leading 19th goal of the season and the team-leading 25th assists of the season for both Spooner and Bergeron. Marchand has tied his career best streak with goals in four straight games and he extended his point streak to five games (4 goals, 1 assist).

David Pastrnak doubled Boston's lead 3:02 after that when he crashed the net (like ran into it with his stomach) and put in a rebound. His fifth goal of the season was assisted by David Krejci (23rd assist) and Loui Eriksson (24th assist). You would think that Columbus would basically give up when they were down a pair of goals on the road but they didn't as Dalton Prout scored his first goal in 107 games (!) and my man Kerby Rychel tipped in a shot from Justin Falk in the span of 3:10 later in the frame. Gustavsson should have stopped Prout's easy shot that somehow squeezed through from no angle.

Not much happened in the third period and both teams had to kill off penalties in overtime (4-on-3) before it went to the goofy shootout. Being terrible in shootouts has been a hallmark of the Bruins since it was instituted by the NHL and that is one of the numerous reasons that they missed the playoffs last year. It's hard to feel great about what transpired tonight but at least they came away with two points which frankly is all that matters with 35 games left in the regular season.

There are only two games left for the B's before the All-Star break begins next week: they are in Philadelphia (20-17-8) on Monday (7, NESN) and here vs. Anaheim (21-18-7) the next night. Boston has already lost twice to the Flyers this season (5-4 in OT here on Oct. 21 and 3-2 in Philly on Jan. 13) and the Ducks are playing much better (6-3-1 in last 10 games) after their awful start this season but this isn't a killer stretch. The Bruins can finally get to .500 at home this season (something they have yet to do) with a win on Tuesday (11-12-2).

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This Season Nobody Struggles Against the Blue Jackets Like the Bruins Do

Hey guys, I've got great news: the Bruins don't have to play the Blue Jackets anymore this season (assuming they don't meet in the playoffs)! This sounds like a joke and in a way it is but Columbus (19-21-3) went 2-0-1 against Boston (24-16-6) in 2014-15, capped off by tonight's 3-1 win at TD Garden that ended the Bruins' season-best five-game win streak.

The Blue Jackets play hard and they are somewhat speedy but they are so depleted by injuries that it's hard to explain how they previously beat Boston 6-2 and the Bruins' only win was a 4-3 shootout victory in Columbus. I don't get it, haha that's my scorching hot take. The B's had been playing really well lately so they were probably due for a stinker. This was eerily similar to earlier losses this campaign where their offense disappeared and they just didn't seem that into it.

Columbus has the No. 2 power play in the league, by far their biggest strength, so it stands to reason that you should do anything to keep them away from the man-advantage. All-Star Ryan Johansen scored his team-leading 17th goal at 7:57 of the first period when he roofed the puck over Tuukka Rask's (28 saves) glove. Jack Johnson and Scott Hartnell had the assists. That extended Johansen's NHL-best point streak to an absurd 13 games (8 goals, 7 assists). He is one of three Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky and Nick Foligno) that will represent the home team at next weekend's All-Star Game in Columbus.

Boston's lone highlight of this forgettable game was Carl Soderberg's tying goal at 11:34. He one-timed a pass from Chris Kelly that was tipped over by Loui Eriksson for his 10th goal of the season. That gives Boston four guys with double-digit goal totals (Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Eriksson). Speaking of Marchand, this was the first of the two games that he'll miss for slew-footing Rangers forward Derick Brassard. The B's didn't lose because of his absence but clearly putting Daniel Paille in his spot is never a positive thing for them.

I thought we were going to be treated to a dull overtime but Matt Calvert scored the game-winning goal at 16:57 of the third period. BC's Cam Atkinson took a shot that Rask couldn't corral and Calvert was on the doorstep to shovel it in. Brandon Dubinsky assisted on his fifth goal of the season. Calvert also added the empty-netter at 19:22 that put this two points away.

I hadn't even mentioned until now that Columbus had played at home last night and lost 2-1 to the Rangers. Oh and Boston was treated to backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney (34 saves) but they somehow could not make the most of those favorable factors. The Bruins hit the road for a back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday: at Dallas (8:30, NESN) then at Colorado (10:30, NESN). Neither team is currently in the playoff picture in the West and both feature former Bruins that they miss dearly: Tyler Seguin and Jarome Iginla respectively. Boston needs at least two out of those four possible points to feel OK heading into the break. Their next home game isn't for two weeks: January 31 vs. Los Angeles.

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Anything Goes On A Friday Night In Columbus

Being such a hopeless creature of habit, I will admit that I was completely thrown off by having the Bruins play on a Friday-something which happens about as often as Kim Kardashian covering up his gigantic ass. For two periods tonight at Nationwide Arena, Boston (13-8-0) was terrible as they fell behind host Columbus (6-11-2) 2-0.

Thankfully, the B's had just enough resiliency to rally in a bonkers third period and then eventually win 4-3 in a shootout. Nobody scored through six rounds so rookie Anton Khokhlachev ended it in the seventh with the lone goal in only his second career NHL game. It had all the makings of a trap game with Montreal and Pittsburgh waiting on the horizon not to mention Thanksgiving break.

Beginning tonight, Boston has three games in four days so head coach Claude Julien elected to sit Tuukka Rask in favor of rookie Niklas Svedberg (25 saves). The move was a no-brainer, even when Svedberg gave up a pair of soft goals in the first period. Ryan Johansen blocked Kevan Miller's shot in his own zone then skated on a partial breakaway before letting loose a shot that Svedberg got plenty of but couldn't keep from crossing the line at 9:52. Johansen's seventh goal of the season was unassisted.

Just 1:38 after Johansen's goal, the Blue Jackets went up 2-0 on Nick Foligno's deflection which actually went off his body. Jordan Leopold took the shot and Johansen had the second assist on Foligno's team-leading 10th goal of the season. Earlier in the frame, Patrice Bergeron's shot was swept off the goal line by a Columbus defenseman.

Svedberg's gaffes had nothing on Sergei Bobrovsky (38 saves) who breathed life into Boston by allowing one of the worst goals you'll ever see in the NHL. To the left of the faceoff dot, Dennis Seidenberg decided to put the puck on the net at 1:28 of the third period and somehow it went in despite not bouncing or doing anything wacky. Matt Bartkowski (who went to nearby Ohio State) and Chris Kelly received the joke assists.

That turned out to be the spark that the B's needed as they tied it at 9:33 on Matt Fraser's re-direct of Bartkowski's slap-pass. Fraser's third goal of the season (1st in 8 games) was also assisted by Bergeron who played it back to Bartkowski at the point. Before you could say full meltdown, the B's were up for the first time (3-2) 1:59 after Fraser's tally. Daniel Paille picked the perfect time to break his slump (1st goal in 37 games!) as he took advantage of the turnover created by Carl Soderberg.

Boston enjoyed that lead for a grand total of 1:15 since Jack Johnson (please read his tragic bankruptcy story) one-timed a pass from Johansen and Foligno. The Bruins quickly bounced back from that devastating goal as they outshot the Blue Jackets 7-1 in overtime. Bobrovsky made up for his poor play by owning overtime. The shootout went on for way too long with not enough goals but you can't argue with the final result.

Columbus is a train wreck so for that reason alone, Saturday (7, NESN) vs. Montreal figures to be way harder. Boston has suffered two humbling defeats (6-4 on Oct. 16 & 5-1 last Thursday) already this season in Montreal so they owe the Canadiens a beating at the Garden. It is a given that the atmosphere will be great, hopefully the game follows suit. Rask has to prove that he can beat Montreal and likewise, his teammates (looking at you Lucic) need to stay focused and not get caught up in the Canadiens' usual garbage.

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It's Going To Be Another Long Season for the Blue Jackets

In terms of irrelevant pro sports teams, you'd be hard pressed to top the Columbus Blue Jackets. They are so useless that it is a struggle to come up with funny and/or original ways to make light of them. Boston (18-7-2) beat them 3-1 tonight at TD Garden, the third time in three meetings this season that they've come away with two points vs. Columbus (10-14-3). It's a shame that we won't see them again until the Eastern Conference playoffs, haha yeah right!

At least the Blue Jackets put up a good fight. They had two shots on goal in the first period, seven in the second and five in the third. Yeesh. Competing against teams like that, Chad Johnson (4-1-1; 13 saves) might never lose! Milan Lucic (2 goals) and David Krejci (2 assists) certainly enjoyed their time against the punching bags, I mean Blue Jackets.

Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to Bergeron's goal at 9:02 in the first period. His wrist shot along the boards had eyes through Curtis McElhinney's sad five-hole. It was Bergeron's eighth goal of the season and second in two days, Dougie Hamilton and Brad Marchand had the assists.

Lucic's first goal was on the power play, a tip-in at 14:58 of the first period from Torey Krug and Krejci. It was a night of firsts for Looch-his first power-play goal since March 2012 and his first fight of the season as well. Poor Dalton Prout was the hapless loser that had the honor of feeling Lucic's fists all over his face.

By making it 3-0 at 2:15 of the third period with his 11th goal of the season (2nd multi-goal game), Lucic put the Blue Jackets to bed. Ryan Johansen's power play goal prevented the ultra rare Chad Johnson shutout. If that had transpired, many in the crowd might have passed out from shock.

The Bruins are off until Thursday when they visit the Canadiens (15-9-3). Let the hype for the first meeting of the season begin for these Original Six blood rivals.

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"9 out of 10 points ain't bad,"-The Bruins

After starting off with such a blah result (a 3-2 shootout loss to the Stars last Tuesday), the Bruins sure closed their season-long five-game homestand off in style: Milan Lucic scored with 48.6 seconds left in overtime tonight as Boston topped Columbus 3-2 at TD Garden for their fourth straight victory. The B's (12-5-1) have the look of the best team in the Eastern Conference, even if they still trail the Tampa Bay Lightning (who beat Anaheim 5-1).

Columbus (6-10-2) has to be kicking themselves as somehow Chad Johnson (2-1-0, 32 saves) beat Sergei Bobrovsky (28 saves) who won the Vezina Trophy last season but like his team is off to a crappy start to 2013-14. Johnson made his first start as a Bruin in Boston since the B's are in Ottawa tomorrow night. He hadn't played since November 2 so even though he wasn't anything special, he had to be rusty after so much time off from real action.

This is the classic example of a game that you sell to a friend if you are a season-ticket holder. Who wants to see the anonymous Blue Jackets? Especially when Nathan Horton (shoulder) has yet to play a game with his new employer. Columbus actually led 1-0 as Blake Comeau was the recipient of a breakdown in the Bruins' backline. Two guys went after Mark Letestu against the boards (why?) so all he had to do was throw it in front to Comeau for a one-timer that beat Johnson at 12:48 of the first period.

Boston responded with Loui Eriksson tying it at 18:10. Once again, he scored a strange goal (his 3rd of the season) as he stuck his leg out and Zdeno Chara's wrist shot from the point deflected off his skate. Apparently there was no kicking motion since the refs didn't even look at the replay. Haha ok then. Patrice Bergeron had the second assist.

It was a fourth line kind of night and Shawn Thornton scored a pretty goal, sniping a shot just under the bar at 10:09 of the second period. His second goal of the season was assisted by Gregory Campbell and Torey Krug (5-game point streak). Thorny might rarely score a goal but it feels like whenever he does, it's impressive or at least memorable.

This being Chad Johnson we're talking about, he couldn't let Boston have nice things that easily. His biggest mistake of the night was pounced on by the Blue Jackets. He coughed up a juicy rebound right in front and Nick Foligno potted a backhander at 16:34 of the second period.

All I can say is thank god that it didn't go to a shootout. Both teams are playing tomorrow and who wants to see the Blue Jackets for way more time than you are required to? Lucic isn't known as a particularly great two-way player but all the credit goes to him on the game-winner (the first OT goal of his NHL career) as he blocked a shot in Boston's end then had the wheels to get on a breakaway and shoot the puck through Bobrovsky's five-hole.

The Bruins hit the road for three games beginning tomorrow (7:30, NESN) in Ottawa (7-7-4). It is the first meeting of the season between the Atlantic Division rivals and I don't have to tell you that Tuukka Rask will be back in net for the B's.

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While You Were Watching College Football, Bruins Beat Blue Jackets 3-1

If I had my way, there would never be any afternoon games in the NHL. I probably want that since it seems like the Bruins never play well during the day. In their first road game of the season, the B's won 3-1 this afternoon over the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

Boston (3-1-0) played like they didn't want to be there for the first 20 minutes as Columbus (2-2-0) made it 1-0 at 18:52 on Jack Johnson's power play goal. From there, Tuukka Rask (26 saves) and Co. woke up. The B's allowed one goal for the fourth straight contest. They were helped out by a leaky Sergei Bobrovsky (33 saves) who don't forget won the Vezina Trophy last season (that'll be a great trivia question some day).

Chris Kelly's slap shot from just inside the blue line found its way through Bobrovsky's legs at 16:18 of the second period. Jarome Iginla and David Krejci had the assists on Kelly's second goal of the season, the former's first point as a Bruin. NHL goaltenders let alone ones that are supposed to be among the best should always make that save, no excuse.

Perhaps to prove that Kelly's goal wasn't a fluke, Bobrovsky allowed another questionable tally when Loui Eriksson's slow motion one-timed backhander (when do you ever see those?) went past him 49 seconds into the third. Eriksson's first goal as a Bruin turned out to be the game-winner, a fitting reward since he could have easily had another goal or two (one shot off the post). Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith were credited with the assists.

All that was left for the not ready for primetime Blue Jackets was a gift empty netter for Milan Lucic. Columbus couldn't clear the puck out of its own end and it ended up going off Looch's skate and into the net. Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk had the assists on Lucic's second goal of the season.

Since it is Columbus Day, Monday's game is also in the afternoon (1, NESN) but at least it is against a legitimate opponent: Detroit (2-2) who will be looking to answer for the 4-1 beating the B's threw them last Saturday.

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Hey Jarome Iginla, No Hard Feelings Right Buddy?

I am sure that you've already heard the news since it happened on Friday but I thought I'd wrap up the Bruins' moves from this weekend since many of us (myself included) were in a Fourth of July/long holiday weekend haze. The Bruins and right wing Jarome Iginla agreed to a one-year deal worth $6 million while Nathan Horton signed a seven-year deal in Columbus, Andrew Ference is off to Edmonton for four seasons, backup goaltender Anton Khudobin is now a Carolina Hurricane for at least the next season and Aaron Johnson signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Rangers.

We don't have to rehash all the drama with Iginla a few months ago but you have to admit that it is pretty funny that he ended up in Boston after getting swept by the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals in June. It's all about timing and despite the fact that he's slowing down (he turned 36 last week), he has a good chance to end up on Boston's top line with Milan Lucic and David Krejci now that Horton is officially gone.

Iginla's resume speaks for itself, there is a reason that he'll be in the Hockey Hall of Fame after he retires: he has the third most goals of active players (530) with 576 assists and he's +48 for his career which is great when you consider all the poor teams he played on in Calgary. He has 165 power play goals and 206 power play assists with 13 shorthanded goals and nine shorthanded assists.

The former Flames captain put up seven 30-goal seasons, two 40-goal seasons and two 50-goal seasons with a career-high 52 in 2001-02. Showing how well rounded he is, Iginla has six 30-assist seasons, two 40-assists seasons and two 50-assist seasons with a career-high 55 in 2006-07. He's never had 100 points in a season (who does anymore in the NHL?) but he's come close with 94, 96 and 98 in 2007-08.

You can't expect Iginla to still be the player he was in his prime since he showed signs of age between Calgary (9 goals, 13 assists in 31 games) and Pittsburgh (5 goals, 6 assists in 13 games) last season. Still, he missed four games in the regular season but he played in all 82 for five seasons in a row (2007-08 to 2011-12). It's also easy to forget since he had a goose egg (0 goals, 0 assists) in the Bruins' sweep of the Penguins but before that, he notched four goals and eight assists in 11 games. In 69 career NHL playoff games, he has posted 32 goals and 29 assists.

My guess is that with a full training camp, no worries around the trade deadline over if he'll get dealt and a regular season with the B's, he should be a nice fit at a very reasonable price and the fans will totally forget about all the old drama provided that he plays well. It'll be strange to see Horton and Ference in other jerseys next season. I'm happy that they both got long-term deals since they are good guys that gave everything they had to the Black and Gold. Losing Khudobin was a little surprising but I'm confident the Bruins can find a comparable backup for Tuukka Rask in 2013-14.

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Look Out Adam McQuaid: Bruins Add Another Fringe Defenseman To The Mix For 2012-13

Another day and another nameless guy brought in by the Bruins to a two-way contract.

This afternoon, they announced the signing of defenseman Aaron Johnson to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2012-13 season. It's worth $650,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 at the AHL level with the Providence Bruins.

Believe it or not, Johnson actually played in 56 games for the worst team in the NHL-the Columbus Blue Jackets-last season. He had three goals, a career-high 13 assists and 16 points. Johnson was -12 with 26 penalty minutes. Don't feel bad if you're never heard of him, I hadn't either. I think Rick Nash is the only Blue Jacket that's known by the outside world. Name me a more obscure pro sports team in the the big four sports in America?

A third-round pick by Columbus in 2001 (85th overall), Johnson is 29, 6-foot-2 and 211 pounds. The left-handed shot already played for five NHL teams (Blue Jackets, Islanders, Blackhawks, Oilers, Flames) before coming to Boston which is always a bad sign.

For his NHL career (281 games), he has 17 goals and 45 assists for 62 points. He's +1 with 217 penalty minutes and 225 shots on goal.

In 2010-11, Johnson had 35 points in 72 games with the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) after signing as an unrestricted free agent with the Nashville Predators two summers ago.

Let's be honest, the best Johnson can hope for is he'll grab the last spot on the third defenseman line. More likely, he'll find himself in the TD Garden press box often as a healthy scratch or competing in Providence.

He will soon learn it's a big step up from the Blue Jackets to the Bruins but regardless, we wish him luck.

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Bruins Snap Two-Game Skid, Win A Strange One 5-3 In Columbus

I don't catch enough Columbus Blue Jackets games to know if this is the norm or not but I have to say that tonight's contest between them and the Boston Bruins was particularly bizarre.

The B's (18-9-1) snapped a two-game losing streak by winning 5-3 at Nationwide Arena over the Blue Jackets (8-17-4) but they pulled it off under pretty random circumstances.

Where to begin? Well Columbus got out to a 2-0 lead less than 12 minutes into the game, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (22 saves) was pulled after two periods, Zdeno Chara was felled with a "lower-body injury" in the second period and didn't return, Joe Corvo scored his first two goals in his Bruins career while Boston's power play finished 3 of 6.

After Shawn Thornton and Jared Boll renewed acquaintances (they fought in the teams' first meeting as well, Nov. 17), Rick Nash (9th of the season) made it 1-0 Columbus at 5:46 when he broke loose from Chara on a breakaway and beat Thomas.

Former Flyer Jeff Carter (5th of the season) doubled the lead at 11:09 when he shoveled in a backhander, on the power play.

Corvo's wrist shot from the point brought the B's back in it at 18:26 of the first period, from Milan Lucic (3 assists) and David Krejci (2 assists).

Boston struck again 45 seconds later, to tie it at 2, and improbably send it into the first intermission like that. Nathan Horton's (8th of the season) snap shot left Blue Jackets goaltender Curtis Sanford (24 saves in his hideous toilet cake blue leg pads) with no chance to stop it. Lucic and Andrew Ference assisted on the goal.

Lucic took a dumb double minor penalty later in the first period but Boston was able to successfully kill it.

Chara's (6th of the season) bomb from the point, gave Boston a 3-2 lead with its second power-play goal of the night. Lucic and Krejci assisted on the goal, 58 seconds into the second frame.

At 16:05, R.J. Umberger (5th of the season) tied it at 3 with a goal that Thomas rarely gives up and undoubtedly would like to have back.

Boston head coach Claude Julien never has to pull the old Montreal Canadiens desperation tactic of pulling the goalie but on this night, it worked wonders. Tuukka Rask (11 saves; 5-4-1) started the third period and didn't allow any goals despite some solid chances for the Blue Jackets.

Corvo scored his second power-play goal at 6:44 from Dennis Seidenberg and Tyler Seguin. Corvo was the most culpable player on goals in the Winnipeg and Florida losses so it was nice to see him get rewarded offensively since he's had a bunch of close calls and near misses this season.

Chris Kelly (11th of the season) added the third power-play goal with 26 seconds remaining. Patrice Bergeron fed him from behind the net for Kelly's underrated one-timer, Brad Marchand had the other assist.

The book is closed on Boston vs. Columbus in 2011-2012 with a shootout victory and tonight's win for the good guys. The only way they would meet again is if they both advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Haha, well I don't think the Blue Jackets will be there.

Things figure to get a little more interesting on Tuesday as the Bruins welcome the Los Angeles Kings, a team they usually only see once or twice a season, to TD Garden. Connecticut native and UMass-Amherst alum Jonathan Quick is one of the top young goaltenders in the league and Bill Simmons' favorite NHL squad also has a bunch of stud young forwards and defensemen. I'm looking forward to what should be an entertaining game.

UPDATE 12/11: Boston Globe Bruins reporter Fluto Shinzawa reports that Chara is expected to miss a week of action (vs. Los Angeles, at Ottawa, at Philly) with a leg injury. Stay tuned for more news on that since the captain never misses action.

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Bruins Top Blue Jackets 2-1 In Shootout For Seven Game Winning Streak

Tonight was exhibit A proving why I don't gamble on sports-excluding Fantasy, March Madness pools and trips to Vegas of course. You'll be hard-pressed to find another game this season where the Boston Bruins will be more heavily favored.

However, this was what gamblers term a reverse lock. The Columbus Blue Jackets came in to the TD Garden as the worst team in the NHL and they used a goalie-Curtis Sanford-who was making his first start of the season. They give up the most goals and the B's have climbed the charts to No. 2 in scoring per game. So of course, Boston (10-7-0) had to grit its collective truth through a 2-1 shootout win over the Blue Jackets (3-13-2).

Oh and by the way, Boston picked up their seventh straight win mostly thanks to goaltender Tuukka Rask (30 saves) who improved to 3-3-0 with his best effort of the young season. And please, don't tell me he's getting traded. Rask is the future whenever Tim Thomas decides to retire or loses his ability. Backup goalies, that have starting experience, that are as good as Rask don't come around often.

After a boring and scoreless first period, Columbus actually took the lead 1-0 at 2:49 as something called Derek MacKenzie (3rd of the season) tipped in a shot from the point on the power-play. Gregory Campbell was one second away from getting out of the penalty box.

Adam McQuaid, who was drafted by the Blue Jackets, tied it 1:35 later when his screened shot found its way in. On the replay, it appeared that Rich Peverley tipped it but the honk Garden scorers probably felt bad for McQuaid who rarely gets points and gave him his first tally of the season.

The only other real action of the frame was when Shawn Thornton (5th fighting major in 17 games) took on Jared Boll in a fight that wasn't exactly the Rumble in the Jungle. Still, their was some obvious venom as both guys screamed at each other after the dustup and as they were escorted to their respective boxes.

Sanford (26 saves) played way better than everyone but his family and close friends could have ever dreamed. Neither team could put the puck in the net despite some great opportunities for both sides.

Overtime was similarly full of chances but nobody could end it so it went to Boston's second shootout (win in Chicago) to decide it. Tyler Seguin and Rick Nash went first but both were stuffed. Peverley gave the B's a 1-0 advantage but Mark Letestu tied it.

After David Krejci scored, Rask stoned Antoine Vermette to seal the win.

It wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but Boston got the two points and that's all that matters. Along with the Rangers, who have somehow won seven in a row, the Bruins are unquestionably one of the NHL's hottest teams.

This was the close of a resounding success of a homestand: five wins in five games. Boston is 7-0-0 in November. The Bruins will now head out on a three-game road trip (Long Island, Montreal and Buffalo) that kicks off on Saturday night against the Islanders. Boston began the homestand with a 6-2 win over the Isles on November 7.

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