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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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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The Bruins Continue to Find Ways to Lose at TD Garden This Season

I wish I had an explanation for Boston's mind-numbing woes at TD Garden this season (1-5-1) while they have looked like a really good team on the road (6-2-0). Their puzzling play continued tonight as they began a crucial five-game homestand (their longest of the 2015-16) against Colorado (6-9-1) who has been one of the worst teams in the NHL. Boston (7-7-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 5:51 into the contest then proceeded to cough that up then never come back as they lost 3-2.

This was supposed to be a positive night for the B's as veteran defenseman Dennis Seidenberg made his unexpected debut and actually looked like himself (15:34, game-high 6 hits, 2 blocked shots) for the most part. Tyler Randell stood up for his new teammate after Cody McLeod took a run at Seidenberg, they fought at 7:34 of the first period. There was no excuse for Boston to lose, given the two-goal lead and the fact that the Avalanche lost arguably their best player-captain Gabriel Landeskog at 5:46 of the second period after an illegal hit to the head (of Brad Marchand) that resulted in a match penalty (it'll be reviewed by the NHL's player safety committee). For someone that had a concussion earlier this season, Marchand was lucky to have escaped seemingly alright (granted, who knows).

Zdeno Chara gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 1:12 as Reto Berra (25 saves) was flopping in his crease and Boston's captain was able to blast a shot from the point for his second goal of the season. It was called a goal on the ice and stood up to a review, Matt Beleskey and Brett Connolly had the assists and the former was judged not to have interfered with Berra. It looked like it'd be an easy night for the home team as Ryan Spooner scored a power-play goal at 5:51, Boston's top-ranked power-play came through for the eighth straight game (their longest streak since Dec. 2006). Patrice Bergeron assisted on Spooner's fourth goal of the season, a simple tap in with Berra down and out of position yet again.

Former Bruin Carl Soderberg cashed in this summer with a crazy deal from the Avalanche and while he predictably hasn't lived up to that so far, he cut it to 2-1 Bruins at 12:08 with one of the best shots that I can ever remember him taking. He went top shelf on Tuukka Rask (27 saves) for his second goal of the season, assisted by Blake Comeau and Jarome Iginla (another former Bruin that they miss). A lucky bounce went Colorado's way late in the first period as Francois Beauchemin's shot from the point took a huge deflection off Joonas Kemppainen that changed it from a fastball to a knuckleball. Rask couldn't glove it and Beauchemin's second goal of the season tied the game, assisted by Erik Johnson and Matt Duchene.

Boston didn't do much offensively the rest of the way to test Berra. Duchene was the subject of trade rumors on the interweb today but he didn't seem to be affected at all by them. He scored the go-ahead goal at 6:49 of the third period. His seventh tally of the season was assisted by Mikhail Grigorenko but it might as well have been credited to Kevan Miller who gave the puck away in his own end (that seems to happen to him every game in Boston). He has played in all 15 games this season so it is time for him to take a seat especially since Zach Trotman and Joe Morrow were both healthy scratches this evening.

Detroit (8-6-1) hosts San Jose (7-8-0) tomorrow night before the Red Wings travel to Boston for Saturday night's game (7, NESN), meaning they should get in late tomorrow night. The Original Six and Atlantic Division rivals are right on the same level and only two points apart so even though it is still early, that game will mean more than most in mid-November. Regardless of the opponent, the B's have to find a way to play better at the Garden more consistently or else they'll be no better than .500 this season and potentially out of the playoffs for the second year in a row.

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Somebody Cue Up Brass Bonanza for My Man Jean-Sebastian

Stanley Cups aren't won in October but maniac head coach Patrick Roy seems to have a good young team coming together in Colorado. The Avalanche (4-0-0) continued their unbeaten start to the season with an impressive 2-0 win this evening at TD Garden vs. the Bruins (2-1-0). For a while, Boston played like a team that hadn't faced an opponent since Saturday. When they turned up the heat, Jean-Sebastian Giguere (39 saves) was there for his 37th career shutout. He's been around so long that he's the last Hartford Whaler standing the NHL. He was their first round draft pick way back in 1995.

Boston's best scoring chances came in the first period when Johnny Boychuk and Chris Kelly both hit the post. Colorado scored a backbreaking goal with 40 seconds left in the frame as Ryan O'Reilly (Terry's grandson?) tipped in Andre Benoit's shot from the point. Tuukka Rask (28 saves) couldn't stop it since O'Reilly was right in front of him.

Shawn Thornton did his best to boost some energy in his team with a second period scrap with massive Patrick Bordeleau. Milan Lucic also wanted to punch somebody but smartly enough, no one on the Avalanche wanted to be his punching bag. Lucic was tagged with a 10-minute misconduct that ultimately didn't cost the Bruins much.

Matt Duchene hit the post twice in one sequence (forehand then backhand) late in the third period when it was 1-0 so he was justly rewarded by the mighty hockey gods when he outraced Patrice Bergeron for a loose puck and scored an empty-netter with 26 seconds left in regulation. That made it 2-0 and send Bruins fans streaming for the exits. Boston had pulled Rask but they could never find the equalizer or much pressure after dominating most of the third. It was a frustrating night for the home team as Loui Eriksson was earlier hit with an embellishment penalty that was weak at best.

Getting out of town for a mini-road trip (1 game) should help the Bruins bond with their new teammates. They play the Blue Jackets (2-1) on Saturday afternoon (2, NESN). Less time off and more consistent games should help Boston find a rhythm in the early going. After two good performances last week against Tampa Bay and Detroit, perhaps this was a trap game we should have seen coming. The Avalanche were a tough matchup with their speed, the B's tried to beat them up physically but obviously that didn't work.

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