< Ryan Donato
makes his debut for the Bruins in a 5-4, overtime loss to the Blue Jackets on Monday night at the TD Garden.
Blue Jackets 5, Bruins 4 (OT)
Cam Atkinson scored 2:55 into overtime to lift Columbus to a victory over Boston on Monday night for its eighth straight victory, spoiling a splendid NHL debut for Bruins forward Ryan Donato. Sonny Milano, Boone Jenner, Thomas Vanek and Artemi Panarin also scored for the Blue Jackets. Nick Foligno had two assists, and Vanek and Jenner each added one. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 34 shots. Atkinson cut in on the left wing and fired a wrister past Rask for the game-winner. Columbus moved into a tie with Philadelphia with 85 points, but the Flyers hold the tiebreaker for third place in the Metropolitan Division and the Blue Jackets hold the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. Donato had a goal and two assists for Boston, which moved a point behind idle Tampa Bay for first in the Atlantic. Riley Nash, Brad Marchand and David Krejci also scored for the Bruins, and Tuukka Rask finished with 20 saves. The Blue Jackets trailed by two late in the second period before scoring three consecutive goals to take a 4-3 lead. Just 25 seconds after Nash had give the Bruins a 3-1 lead, Milano redirected Ryan Murray's slap-pass from the right point to pull Columbus within one with just over three minutes remaining in the middle period. Vanek tipped in a shot from the slot, tying it 5:38 into the third, and Panarin put the Blue Jackets ahead off a faceoff with 8:30 left in regulation. However, Donato slipped a short pass from the right circle to Krejci, who got the tying goal 20 seconds later while falling to one knee. Jenner got Columbus on the scoreboard first when he redirected Vanek's pass by Rask 4:15 into the game. The Bruins scored three straight goals in the second to take the lead. Marchand tied it with his team-leading 31st of the season when he got the puck at the end of a 2-on-1 break, shifted to his right and tucked it behind Korpisalo 5:41 into the middle period. Donato, a Hobey Baker Finalist after leading Harvard in scoring this season, pushed Boston ahead with a one-timer that slipped inside the near post from the right faceoff circle at 7:28. The leading scorer on the U.S. team at the Pyeongchang Olympics signed a two-year, entry-level contract on Sunday. Nash's power-play goal increased it to 3-1 as he banged home a rebound from the top of the crease with 3:28 remaining. Boston's David Pastrnak got his 70th point on Marchand's goal, matching his career-high.
Predators 4, Sabres 0
Pekka Rinne stopped 35 shots for his eighth shutout of the season and Nashville set a franchise record by earning a point in its 15th consecutive game with a win over Buffalo. Mike Fisher and Ryan Johansen scored goals 4:34 apart in the second period, and Filip Forsberg and Ryan Hartman sealed the victory by scoring in the final four minutes. The NHL-leading Predators improved to 14-0-1 in their past 15, and also extended their team-best road winning streak to nine straight. Rinne won his 11th straight to match his personal best in a stretch in which he's allowed just 18 goals. The shutout was the 51st of his 12-year career and third in nine games. And Rinne also improved to 40-9-4 in becoming the NHL's seventh goalie to win 40 games in a season three or more times. The Predators haven't lost in regulation since a 3-1 defeat to Detroit at home on Feb. 17. And they improved to 12-0-3 in their past 15 road games since a 3-0 loss at Vegas on Jan. 2. Buffalo ranks last in the Eastern Conference and had its NHL-worst home record drop to 11-21-5. Minor-league call-up Linus Ullmark stopped 28 shots, starting in place of Robin Lehner, who was sidelined with an undisclosed injury.
Panthers 2, Canadiens 0
Roberto Luongo stopped 28 shots for his third shutout of the season and 76th of his career, leading the Florida Panthers to a 2-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night. Aaron Ekblad and Aleksander Barkov scored to help the Panthers inch closer to a playoff position, pulling three points behind idle new Jersey for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Florida has two games in hand on the Devils. Antti Niemi finished with 38 saves for Montreal, which was shut out for the second straight game and 12th time this season — including three against the Panthers. The Canadiens were coming off a 4-0 loss at Toronto on Saturday.