Final: Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 1 — Rask bails out B's as Boston evens series

Still breathing?

The final score might say otherwise, but man, did the Bruins get bailed out by Tuukka Rask in net tonight. Even with a pair of tallies on the Bruins' power play, multiple fumbles with the biscuit were part of a frustrating night in the O-zone for the Bruins — who relinquished five shots on goal and two high-danger chances during 10:11 of 5v4 TOI.

Still, with Rask keeping the Blue Jackets at bay and Boston's penalty kill negating all four of Columbus' stints on the man advantage, Boston was eventually able to get its punches to land against Sergei Bobrovsky. It wasn't a perfect night for Boston's top line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand — but three total goals and five combined points is much, much better than what Boston has seen so far this series from its big guns.

Thanks to Rask's 39-save outing, the Bruins now have home-ice advantage once again, with Boston looking to break a 2-2 series deadlock on Saturday in Game 5 at TD Garden.



The Boston Bruins will continue the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they take on Columbus in Game 4 of their best-of-seven series. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. Follow along for updates from Thursday’s game.

WHO:  Bruins at Columbus Blue Jackets (Columbus leads, 2-1)

WHEN: 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Nationwide Arena

TV: NBC

RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub

LIVE BOX SCORE: NHL.com

LIVE COVERAGE:

10:12: Patrice Bergeron cashes in again. 4-1 Bruins.

10:10: Carlo draws a penalty. Bruins back on the power play.

10:06: Bruins PK a perfect 4-for-4 tonight. Chara/Carlo played the whole 2:00 PK shift there.

10:00: DeBrusk off for a trip. Jackets power play is back at it.

9:56: Who else? Sean Kuraly makes it a 3-1 game.

9:48: Bruins are at least getting more O-zone time this period. Keeping this game at 5v5 play has to be a priority.

9:41: David Pastrnak has NOT had a good night. Yikes.

9:38: Third period underway. Here we go.

9:20: Bruins make the kill, and enter the second intermission with a 2-1 lead. Bruins are lucky to be alive, only 4 high-danger chances tonight. Rask is bailing them out.

9:16: Marchand off for a trip. Bruins back to the PK. Third penalty of the game for Marchand.

9:13: Bruins once again can't crack Pastrnak on the power play again. Of note, Krejci has been getting first-unit looks at the elbow.

9:04: Coyle can't bury the backhand, but then Clendening heads off for interference for sending Backes into Bobrovsky.

9:00: Rask bails out a fumble by McAvoy and Chara. He's been impressive tonight.

8:56: Another strong kill by the Bruins. 0 SOG for Columbus.

8:54: Clifton heads off for a slash. Jackets power play is back at it.

8:50: Columbus bringing it this period.

8:43: Second period underway.

8:25: End First: Bruins take a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission. That Panarin goal was a backbreaker — CBJ with a ton of great looks after Panarin gets Boston on the board.

8:22: B's kill it off.

8:17: Now a red-hot Jackets power play gets to work. Marchand off for a delay of game.

8:14: Backes takes an elbow to the face from Dean Kukan. He heads down the tunnel. Scary stuff.

8:06: That's a brutal turn for the Bruins. Apparently, that's not reviewable. This league, sometimes.

8:01: Panarin makes it a 2-1 game. Odd bounce, and I'm baffled there isn't a review for that. Seemed like the puck went off the netting.

8:00: Less than 30 seconds after Rask's save, Bergeron buries his first goal of the CBJ series. Great timing. 2-0 Bruins.

7:55: Penalty shot for Jenner. No dice.

7:52: Krug is tripped up. Bruins power play coming up.

7:51: Bruins getting their shots in early against Bobrovsky.

7:46: David Pastrnak opens the scoring 3:33 into the game. That's more like it.

7:44: Game 4 is underway.

7:33: Bruins starters: Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak / Chara-McAvoy / Rask

PROJECTED LINES

BOSTON

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- David Backes

Marcus Johansson -- Charlie Coyle -- Danton Heinen

Joakim Nordstrom -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari

Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo

Matt Grzelcyk -- Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Chris Wagner, John Moore, Zane McIntyre, Karson Kuhlman

Injured: Kevan Miller (lower body)

COLUMBUS

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson

Nick Foligno -- Matt Duchene -- Josh Anderson

Ryan Dzingel -- Alexander Wennberg -- Oliver Bjorkstrand

Brandon Dubinsky -- Boone Jenner -- Riley Nash

Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones

Dean Kukan -- David Savard

Scott Harrington -- Adam Clendening

Sergei Bobrovsky

Joonas Korpisalo

PREGAME NOTES:

The lone lineup change for the Bruins will be up front, as David Backes will slot back in and skate on Boston’s second line. Backes may seem like an unorthodox fit for a top-six role, but the Bruins are going to count on him to battle down low and make Sergei Bobrovsky work.

Karson Kuhlman will sit out for Game 4, while Jake DeBrusk is expected to switch spots with Marcus Johansson as the netfront option on Boston’s first power-play unit. Boston is in need of  a spark on special teams, as that top unit is 0-for-10 with just four shots on goal all series. The lone PP goal was scored by Matt Grzelcyk on Boston’s second unit back in Game 1.

Despite Bobrovsky’s stellar play so far this series, Boston is confident that the netminder will crack sooner rather than later. “The secondary saves that he’s making are very impressive,” Brandon Carlo said Tuesday “But he’s definitely going to crack at some point. I have a lot of faith that we’re going to start putting pucks past him here pretty soon. We’ve had some great opportunities today throughout all three periods to put pucks behind him. Credit to him today, but overall, I don’t think it’s going to last.”

Looks like David Pastrnak will be back with Boston’s top line of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. The trio are due for a breakout performance, as they have combined for a whopping one goal and zero assists so far this series.