BSJ Game Report: Bruins 6, Blue Jackets 2 - Marchand hits 100 points, B’s clinch home ice vs. Leafs taken at BSJ Headquarters (Bruins)

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BSJ Game Report: Bruins 6, Blue Jackets 2 - Marchand hits 100 points, B’s clinch home ice vs. Leafs

By Conor Ryan

Apr 2, 2019 • 10:41 pm

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Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 6-2 win over the Blue Jackets  in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis…

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES:

B’s clinch home ice: With Boston’s convincing 6-2 road win over the Blue Jackets and the Maple Leafs’ 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes later that night, the Bruins have officially locked up second place in the Atlantic Division — securing home ice for the B’s in their first-round playoff matchup against Toronto. Same as last year, Boston will open the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a pair of games at TD Garden, while a potential Game 7 will also take place on Causeway Street. So far this season, Boston is 29-8-3 at the Garden.

With home ice now clinched, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Bruce Cassidy opts to a rest a couple of skaters over Boston’s final two games against the Wild and Lightning. Quite a few Bruins already suffered their fair share of bumps and bruises during Tuesday’s win — with Patrice Bergeron hurting after taking a puck off the lower leg and both Torey Krug and Marcus Johansson leaving for a brief period after getting knocked around.

Bruins start strong, don’t let up: After relinquishing 18 goals over their last four games, the Bruins put together a much-needed strong start on Tuesday against the Blue Jackets — with Jake DeBrusk and Marcus Johansson both lighting the lamp and Tuukka Rask keeping Columbus subdued down the other end of the ice in the first period. 

Rather than an expected push by Columbus in the second stanza, Boston prevented the Jackets from landing a shot on goal for over 18 minutes of action, while another pair of goals gave Boston a lead that it would not relinquish. With the regular season set to wrap up in four days, this is exactly the kind of result you want to see out of the Bruins, especially with Rask getting back on track and strong showings from both the Krejci Line (seven points) and the Coyle Line (three points).

FOUR UP

Brad Marchand: Ho hum, another two-point night for Marchand — who became the first Bruins skater to reach 100 points in a single season since Joe Thornton hit the century mark back in 2002-03. Marchand is now the 10th Bruins player to tally 100 or more points in a single season, joining: Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Adam Oates, Rick Middleton, Ken Hodge, Barry Pederson, Joe Juneau and Thornton. Pretty fantastic company.




Jake DeBrusk:
So much for a sophomore slump. While DeBrusk dealt with his fair share of cold stretches this season, the winger tallied a pair of goals against Columbus to give him 27 tallies on the season. That’s the most by a second-year Bruins player since
Tyler Seguin
reached 29 goals back in 2011-12. It was a strong night from the second line as a whole, with
David Krejci
and
Karson Kuhlman
giving the trio a combined seven points against the Jackets. 


Marcus Johansson:
After a largely subdued showing since returning from a lung contusion back on March 27, Johansson finally got on the board Tuesday — burying a rebound past
Sergei Bobrovsky
at the end of a physical shift from the Coyle line. An encouraging result from a line that needs to get going ahead of the postseason.




Tuukka Rask:
While the Bruins opened the game with a 2-0 lead through the first 20 minutes, the Blue Jackets had plenty of chances — with Columbus holding a 5-2 edge in high-danger scoring chances in the first period. Rask was there to keep the Jackets off the scoreboard in the first period — finishing with 32 saves in the win. While he did relinquish a pair of power-play tallies in the third, it was an encouraging showing from Rask after posting an .865 save percentage in his last six outings. 


ONE DOWN


Penalty kill:
Columbus has some big weapons on the man advantage, but the Bruins’ PK still allowed the Jackets to claw back into the contest over the final minutes of the third off of a pair of goals. After killing six penalties against the Lightning on March 25, Boston’s PK has allowed six goals over the opposition’s last 14 stints on the man advantage.


PLAY OF THE GAME


Slick feed by
Karson Kuhlman
and an even prettier finish by DeBrusk.




PARTING THOUGHT


Well, it wasn’t the most conventional goal — but I don’t think DeBrusk is going to complain about it. Make it 26 goals this season for No. 74.




LOOKING AHEAD


The Bruins will now close out their final road trip of the regular season on Thursday night when they head to Minnesota to take on the Wild. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. It will be the first time that Boston will face off against
Ryan Donato
since dealing the winger back in late February for
Charlie Coyle.
In 20 games with the Wild, Donato has four goals and 16 points.

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