The Boston Bruins picked up a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night as Erik Haula scored a pair of goals while Jeremy Swayman made 22-of-24 saves for the B’s, and Brad Marchand added three points.
Haula got on the board in the first period as he — after several rebound stops from Elvis Merzlikins that put nine of the 10 skaters on the ice around the net — finally, put it by Merzlikins to make it 1-0 with five minutes to play in the period. With just under 30 seconds remaining in the period though Gustav Nyquist collected a rebound in front of Swayman and put it by him to tie it at 1-1.
The Jackets then took the lead less than a minute into the second with Justin Danforth’s rebound goal that made it 2-1 Columbus. Though it didn’t come until the final two minutes of the second, Boston had a response, as Jake DeBrusk — behind the net — fed it to Patrice Bergeron who slid a cross-ice pass to Brad Marchand who one-timed it past Merzlikins for a tic-tac-toe goal.
Boston then took the 3-2 lead with just four minutes left in the third as Brandon Carlo’s wrister was ricocheted in by the stick of Haula for his second of the night in the dying seconds of the power play, before DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle both notched empty netters late as the B’s rode to a 5-2 victory.
With the win, the Bruins pick up their second straight and move to 43-20-6 on the season, though they remain fourth in the Atlantic Division behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs — but an NHL playoff spot is more than secured. The Bruins will get a night off before traveling to Columbus to face the Jackets yet again Monday night at 7:00 p.m. ET, before taking on the Red Wings the night following in a back-to-back.
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