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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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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