RECAP: Bruins fall to Blue Jackets in 2OT

First Period

Boston brought hits early, with Seth Jones and Riley Nash placed ass-first on the ice on their first shifts. Both teams kept up this trend through the entire period, and beyond. Notably, where Columbus was emphatically finishing hits on Thursday night, Boston was much more eager to start Game 2.

Matt Grzelcyk took advantage of a clear lane to put Boston in front early on a power play, thanks to Josh Anderson’s interference penalty.

Without much more fanfare in the first, physicality took a front-row seat. To end the frame, a scuffle in a Boston corner led to a penalty.

Second Period

Brad Marchand was penalized after the end of the first, so Boston started the second on the kill, and Artemi Panarin made them pay just over the halfway mark of the Blue Jackets power play.

Not to be stifled, Boston retaliated quickly, with another goal assist from Best Trade Deadline Acquisition Ever, Charlie Coyle. It really should be Coyle’s goal because Pastrnak did nothing except stand in the right place, but WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE HOW?! ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS HOW MANY... as long as it’s more than the other guys on a nightly basis.

In a weird exchange of penalties, Chara took a seat for tripping, somebody cut Sean Kuraly’s face but it took several minutes to figure out who (and Josh Anderson sat again) and then Panarin potted a second on a tough-angle, top-shelf tally. All within about 90 seconds of game clock. Boston showed weak power-play control and couldn’t capitalize on nearly three minutes on the man advantage, while allowing Panarin to tie it - AGAIN - with time, space, and opportunity.

For the rest of the second, Boston looked lost and tired, and it would bleed into the third, unlike Sean Kuraly’s face. He got patched up.

Third Period

Tentative play from the Bruins continued, notably by DeBrusk passing up a shot in the slot so he could drop-pass it between his legs to where he thought Pastrnak was. A back-and-forth game wound up even past the halfway mark when Boston received a power play off the tripping call to Cam Atkinson. Krug ended up needing to exit play in pain about halfway through the power play. Head coach Bruce Cassidy had to shuffle his fowrard lines to get some energy together - though his skating has held up, Pastrnak continued to look lost when trying to create offense.

Aaaaand that was about it. Other than a late push by the Bruins to go to bed at a reasonable hour, nothing new. And you know what that means...

OVERTIME

Boston came out fired up, resuming the push hey showed at the end of regulation. Tuukka Rask made a gem of a desperation save on Jackets captain Nick Foligno.

HE HAD SO MUCH NET. Thanks Tuuk!

Bobrovsky had to make a similarly desperate save.

Boston retreated into pass-more mode, leaving pucks for teammates and passing up shots, and for a while it looked like it might doom them.

Around the back of the Bruins net, Charlie McAvoy nicked Matt Duchene’s visor to earn himself a minor. Boston very nearly beat Bob cleanly, but couldn’t put the puck behind him.

An outstanding save and some bad luck saw this OT end, and we went on to a second extra frame. In the second frame, both teams played this out more like a 3v3, hold-the-puck OT instead of the playoff 5v5 slugfest just prior.

Unfortunately for Boston, a definitively accidental tripping penalty to Patrice Bergeron would prove enough for Columbus to capitalize. With their best penalty killer in the box, Boston avoided a few near-deaths only to see Matt Duchene pot the game-winner just under four minutes into the second OT.

This series heads to Columbus, where Boston will have to rest and regroup for some difficult games in the opposing barn.