Jackets’ Kuraly excited by return to Boston
Coverage of Saturday’s Blue Jacketsbruins game, on Dispatch.com
BOSTON — Sean Kuraly couldn’t figure out how to get into the building.
The forward decided to walk to TD Garden on Saturday morning for the Blue Jackets’ pregame skate, but when he got to the arena, he realized he didn’t know which entrance to use.
After spending his first five professional seasons in the Boston organization, and the last four seasons exclusively with the Bruins, Kuraly knew his path to the home locker room. But as he entered the building as a visitor for the first time, it took him a moment to find the correct route.
“I didn’t want to come in the way that you’d come in as a home player here, so it was kind of difficult to get in as a visitor,” Kuraly said. “It was just tough. I couldn’t find the right way in. Didn’t want to end up in the B’s locker room.”
Kuraly signed with Columbus, his hometown team, as a free agent in July. He’s been a natural fit with the Jackets since his arrival and has had his most productive NHL season yet, with a career-high 11 goals and 24 points in 68 games thus far.
He’s been open about how happy he is in Columbus since the moment he signed and admitted it was a strange feeling to be back in Boston — especially to be in the visitor’s locker room, which he’d never entered until about two hours before Saturday morning’s skate.
“I’ve got a lot of good memories on this ice, with a few of the teammates that are still here,” Kuraly said. “I really enjoyed this city. It was good to have a day (Friday) to kind of spend it around the city. Good memories.”
Bruins honor Nick Foligno for 1,000 career games
Former Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno played his 1,000th career game on March 15 and elected to wait for the traditional ceremony that commemorates the milestone until Columbus came to town. Saturday night, Foligno was honored for his accomplishment, as he faced the team he spent nine seasons with, six as captain.
New England native Bayreuther returns to Blue Jackets’ lineup
The only lineup change Vincent made ahead of Saturday’s game was swapping defenseman Gavin Bayreuther in for Gabriel Carlsson.
Bayreuther last played March 13 against Vegas, and he is a native of Concord, N.H., just over an hour from Boston. bjohnson@dispatch.com @baileyajohnson_