B’s make loud statement
Top line, Rask help tie series
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Blasts in Columbus usually indicate a goal for the home team, and that it’s about to get loud.
BRUINS 4
BLUE JACKETS 1
David Pastrnak’s early blast, however, silenced the crowd.
His goal just 3:33 into the game, right after getting slammed by Adam Clendening at center ice, gave the Bruins an early lead, and they held on in a tight contest to earn a 4-1 win last night in Game 4 to tie the series 2-2.
Patrice Bergeron scored a pair of goals, while Sean Kuraly added a key insurance tally in the third period.
“He scored a big goal for us,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Pastrnak. “… Hopefully he feels better about his game, those guys (the first line) responded well, they had a good game. They haven’t been producing, all have had some level of chances to score goals. They get a couple early, that always makes you feel good to get those out of the way, give your team a lead.”
With penalty trouble in their path, the Bruins rode a strong performance from Tuukka Rask to hold on to the narrow lead and eventually built upon it late in the third period.
The early lead nearly was wiped off the board, when Brad Marchand tripped up Boone Jenner on a breakaway shorthanded, giving the Jackets forward a penalty shot 6:52 into the game.
Rask (40 saves) denied him, and Marchand redeemed himself shortly thereafter.
Still on the power play, the winger dished it into the slot to an open Bergeron, who doubled the Bruins’ lead with 12:42 left in the first.
A wild first period that included four penalties and the Jenner penalty shot had a crazy sequence before the Blue Jackets’ only tally of the game.
Rask made a save and the puck deflected into the netting above the glass. Instead of the play being blown dead, it continued and Artemi Panarin fired in the Jackets’ first goal with 11:14 left.
“You have to play through it, at the end of the day,” Cassidy said. “I thought we did a good job reacting to it. It didn’t bother us.”
The play was deemed unreviewable, because none of the on-ice officials saw the puck hit the mesh.
“This day and age, I think it’s crazy,” Rask said. “If the ref didn’t see it, why can’t the league call, they’re watching the game, right? What if that’s in overtime. It didn’t cost us, but I just think it’s funny they can look at a lot of other goals and call them back in the league offices but not that.”
The Blue Jackets gained momentum and peppered Rask at the end of the period, finishing with 15 shots in the first 20 minutes, all of them saved but the one that never should have counted.
David Backes took an elbow to the head from Dean Kukan with 7:30 to play in the first, ruled a minor penalty. The Bruins didn’t capitalize, and almost suffered after a Marchand delay-of-game penalty they ended up killing off.
A scoreless second period wasn’t uneventful. Both teams traded chances, with the Jackets earning the bulk early, and a Connor Clifton slash gave Columbus ample opportunity on the power play before it went by the wayside.
With 9:20 left in the period, Pierre-Luc Dubois rang the post to Rask’s right and it remained a 2-1 Bruins lead.
The Jackets were penalized with 7:53 to go when Backes was plowed into Bobrovsky, but the Bruins didn’t score. Right as it ended, Josh Anderson went to the box following a flurry of Jackets physicality, giving the Bruins their fifth power play of the night, with which they also did nothing.
Columbus finished the frame on a power play of its own, but a wild middle period finished without a tally.
Ohio native Kuraly gave the Bruins an insurance goal with 11:20 to go, akin to his big extra goal in Game 7 against the Maple Leafs last series.
Bergeron netted his second power play goal of the game with at a pin front with 2:30 left to seal the game.
Game 5 is tomorrow night in Boston, and for the second time this postseason the Bruins have a chance to take a 3-2 lead at home. Game 6 will be Monday back in Columbus.