Columbus 6, Boston 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, February 22, 2016
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Referees:
Eric Furlatt, Chris Rooney
Linesmen:
Matt MacPherson, Steve Miller
Attendance:
17565
By The Sports Xchange
BOSTON -- After losing in overtime to Boston just last week, the Columbus Blue Jackets had the Bruins right where they wanted them on Monday night.
In Boston.
The Jackets took advantage of a Bruins team that was just coming off the road and has also been dreadful on home ice all season, winning 6-4.
"I didn't know they had a (home) losing streak, so we just try to play our own game, rookie goalie Joonas Korpisalo said after stopping 26 shots for the win. "We know what works and play fast hockey and stuff and it has been working lately so why change it."
The Bruins, who came in with the league's third-worst home record, fell to 12-15-3 at TD Garden. They have allowed 15 goals in their last two home games.
The Blue Jackets have become a much-tougher team to play against under new coach John Tortorella, a much better team than the one that got coach Todd Richards fired after an 0-7 start.
Columbus is 24-22-7 under Tortorella. The Jackets are also 5-1-1 in their last seven road games.
Left winger Boone Jenner notched his second two-goal game in the last four to lead the attack. Center William Karlsson, left wingers Scott Hartnell and Brandon Saad and defenseman Dalton Prout also scored for Columbus, which is 7-2-2 over its last 11 games but still came into the game with the third-worst point total in the NHL.
The Jackets also came in 1-for-16 on the power play in their last five games and went 2-for-3.
"That was huge for us," said Jenner, who had one of the power play goals and has 21 goals on the season. "You've got to win that special teams battle and a couple big goals by us with the power play and that goes a long way and the momentum of the game and things like that."
The Bruins, coming off a 4-2 road trip, are 20-7-3 on the road. They are 1-3-1 in their last five home games.
Boston ended its trip Saturday night in Dallas, flying through the night to get home.
"Defensively we need to be better and we scored enough to win, but we didn't do a good job there," said coach Claude Julien. "I think that was probably the thing that cost us the most tonight because I think deep down the guys are trying.
"There's the element of fatigue that sets in. We tried to overcome that and I thought they tried to work hard, but I think mentally some of the decision-making tonight defensively was not good enough."
Saad scored off a scramble at 14:29 of the third period to make it 5-3 (the goal unsuccessfully challenged by the Bruins). Then, after Bruins left winger Loui Eriksson cut the lead back down to one with his second goal of the game with 2:57 left, Prout lofted one from his own end into an empty net with 2:15 left.
Center Alexander Wennberg and defenseman Ryan Murray both had two assists for the Jackets, while left winger Matt Beleskey also scored twice for the Bruins.
Eriksson, who may or may not be traded by next week's trade deadline (and says he wants to stay), has eight goals in the last nine game, 23 on the season.
Korpisalo, playing in his 13th straight game, is 9-2-3 over his last 14. Bruins goalie Jonas Gustavsson, shaky all night, made 29 saves.
"It's a huge win today and we wanted to win in Boston for sure because we lost in overtime last week, so I think everyone was really hungry before the game to take two points from here," said Korpisalo.
Bruins defenseman Joe Morrow had his second straight two-assist game, after compiling three points in his first 22 games with the team this season.
Asked about the team's struggles at home, Gustavsson said, "I don't know, but if I had the answer then obviously we would fix that."
NOTES: Both coaches lost challenges in the game, goals standing for both teams. ... Bruins C Ryan Spooner (illness) and D Torey Krug (left previous game with an injury) were both able to play. ... Columbus coach John Tortorella, a Boston native, missed the team's previous trip after breaking two ribs in a practice collision with RW Rene Bourque. ... Bruins Cs David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron combined to go 31-11 on faceoffs, while Aaron Wennberg was 1-13 for the Jackets. ... Monday night was First Responder Night at TD Garden, with Sergeant Richard "Dic" Donohue, who was wounded on-duty in April 2013 while pursuing the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, dropping the first puck.
Top Game Performances
Columbus |
|
Boston |
Boone Jenner 2 |
Points |
Matt Beleskey 2 |
Boone Jenner 2 |
Goals |
Matt Beleskey 2 |
Ryan Murray 2 |
Assists |
Joe Morrow 2 |
Boone Jenner 1 |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Joonas Korpisalo .867 |
Save Percentage |
Jonas Gustavsson .853 |
Joonas Korpisalo 26 |
Saves |
Jonas Gustavsson 29 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Columbus
|
35 |
6 |
2-3 |
2-2 |
9 |
25 |
Boston
|
30 |
4 |
0-2 |
1-3 |
21 |
44 |
Upcoming Games
-
Boston will play their next game at home against Pittsburgh. The Bruins have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .571 after a loss.
-
Columbus will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .458 after a win and .361 after a loss.