With the power play a recent concern for the Bruins, coach Bruce Cassidy held a meeting with both units on Sunday in order to hit the reset button. It worked.
Boston scored a pair of power-play goals en route to a 7-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Monday night at TD Garden. David Backes and Charlie McAvoy provided the man-advantage goals, while Brad Marchand recorded an even-strength tally. Danton Heinen had a goal and two assists. Torey Krug added the fifth goal, while Patrice Bergeron drove home the sixth tally of the game. Jake DeBrusk scored Boston's seventh goal.
The seven goals are a season-high for Boston.
McAvoy added an assist and fight for his first Gordie Howe hat trick.
The seven goals is a season-high.
Pregame notes
Sidelined: David Krejci was a last-minute scratch due to an upper-body injury and will not travel with the team to Buffalo for Tuesday's game against the Sabres. He participated in the team's morning skate earlier today and showed no ill effects. He spoke with the media after practice and there were no indications he wouldn't be in the lineup. The veteran forward has been dealing with back issues all season. As a result, Anders Bjork, who was a healthy scratch on Saturday against the Rangers, returned to the lineup. Ryan Spooner centered Jake DeBrusk and Bjork.
What have you done lately: The Bruins look to rebound after losing back-to-back games for the first time since an 0-3-1 skid from Nov. 8-15. Boston is 9-5-3 on home ice. The Blue Jackets are 11-5-0 since No. 11, which is tied for third most win in the NHL during that span. Columbus has scored the first goal in 12 of its last 20 games and have a 14-3-1 record in that stretch.
Masked men: Tuukka Rask is 5-0-1 in his last six starts. He has a 1.52 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage in that span. Overall, he 8-8-3 with a 2.44 GAA and a .913 SP. In 12 career games against the Blue Jackets, Rask is 7-3-1 with a 2.25 and a .918. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 24 shots during a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Overall, he's 17-9-1 with a 2.27 and a .923 in 27 games this season. He's 2-4-2 with a 3.28 and a .904 in nine career games against the Bruins.
Special teams: The Bruins have scored six power-play goals in their last six games. They are 6-for-24 in that span. However, Boston went 1-for-7 on Saturday against the Rangers. The Blue Jackets average the second-fewest penalty minutes per game in the NHL. They have been called for three penalties or less in 12 of the last 17 games. On the PK, Columbus has allowed only five power-play goals in the last 18 games.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy hasn't liked the power play of late, so he held a meeting with both units and then the team worked on it during the morning skate Monday in preparation for Columbus and the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
"This is setting the stage for the whole week," Cassidy said. "If (Columbus) does get in the box we have to take advantage of it because they don't give up a lot of goals. This is just as much of a reset. We know we weren't very good on (power play) the other night, so we had to have at least a conversation about what's going on. . . and get on the same page."
Streaking: David Pastrnak enters tonight's game with an 11-game point streak. He has five goals and eight assists for 13 points in this stretch. It's the longest current streak in the NHL and matches his previous career-best.
"Pucks are finding him and he's contributing," Cassidy said. "I like what David brings. He's dynamic. He's going to do good things every night. He'll have some turnovers that you'll want him to make better decisions, but that's part of the growth process. With Bergy's line, (Pastrnak's) doing his job defensively, so I like his game. . . we're going to keep reminding him to make the safest plays possible without losing his swagger. We're good with David. He's got a good attitude and he's working hard."
Injury update: Defenseman Adam McQuaid is on the verge of returning to the lineup, but he won't play tonight. Since the team has back-to-back games, it hasn't been decided whether or not he'll travel to Buffalo for Tuesday's game against the Sabres. Cassidy said they want McQuaid to participate in at least another full team practice before he's cleared for game action.
"We're thinking a couple more could benefit him," Cassidy said. "I'm not excluding him for tomorrow."
Observations from the third period
- Just when you think Boston's top line can't get any better. Nasty how well they move the puck. Bergeron scores to give the Bruins a 6-1 lead.
- Assist for Charlie McAvoy, who registers his first Gordie Howe hat trick.
- Penalty shot for Tim Schaller. Bobrovsky with the save.
- Danton Heinen scores to give the Bruins a 4-1 lead. It's his third point tonight.
- McAvoy with his first NHL fight. Handled himself pretty well against Pierre-Luc DuBois, who wasn't pleased with McAvoy's check to the head.
- Boston's fourth line enters the period with a combined seven shots on net.
- Columbus will begin the period with 44 seconds remaining on the power play.
- Tough penalty for delay of game by Matt Grzelcyk.
- Again, fourth line has been outstanding for the Bruins tonight.
- Power play clicking tonight as McAvoy scores to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead. DeBrusk with his second assist on the PP.
- Smart puck management by DeBrusk to hold on for that extra second before feeding David Backes for the power-play goal to give Boston a 2-0 lead.
- Bjork draws a penalty. It's something that simple that can help a player's confidence, especially if the Bruins capitalize on the power play right now.
- Zdeno Chara is struggling with his puck management tonight.
- Good shift by DeBrusk. He needs to get going again.
- The Blue Jackets begin the period with 1:05 remaining on the power play.
- Wonder if the Bull Gang edged the ice today because the puck isn't rimming around the kick plate as well as it usually does on NHL ice.
- Perfect example why you should crash the net as Brad Marchand gives the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Great pass by Patrice Bergeron, who spins and finds his linemate in the slot. That's Marchand's 14th goal of the season.
- Fourth line doing it again, this time Tim Schaller hits the post. Good energy from Sean Kuraly since his high-sticking penalty.
- Good to see Brandon Carlo playing with an edge tonight.
- Rask with a couple of timely saves early. He's dialed in. Big save on Oliver Bjorkstrand's redirect in front.
- Former Bruin Milan Lucic was a master at when to hit an opponent and when to play the puck. Danton Heinen made the wrong choice on that play and should've played the puck.
- Bruins' fourth line with a few quality scoring chances. It could be one of those games when Boston needs secondary scoring in order to win.