BSJ Playoffs Report: Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 3 - Pastrnak delivers in 3rd, puts Columbus on brink taken at TD Garden (2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs)

Adam Richins For BSJ

2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs

BSJ Playoffs Report: Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 3 - Pastrnak delivers in 3rd, puts Columbus on brink

By Conor Ryan

May 5, 2019 • 12:31 am

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Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets in Game 5, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

A wild third period ...: Well, that escalated quickly. Holding on to a pair of two-goal leads in the third period — and at one point outshooting the Blue Jackets, 10-1, in the stanza — the Bruins let a couple of bad bounces and sluggish D-zone reps derail what seemed like a by-the-numbers, hard-earned win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

Columbus’ rally started at 10:33 in the third, when a puck fired in by Seth Jones deflected off of Matt Grzelcyk’s stick and sneaked past Tuukka Rask to cut what was a 2-0 B’s lead in half. David Pastrnak’s first tally of the night just 43 seconds later gave Boston some much-needed breathing room, but John Tortorella’s club did not roll over, as Ryan Dzingel and Dean Kukan lit the lamp at 12:07 and 13:58, respectively, to cap off a three-goal barrage that was concluded in just 3:36 of ice time.

Whether it be deflections off of Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo’s skates— or Zdeno Chara getting pushed around by 5-foot-11 Matt Duchene in the seconds leading to Dzingel’s tally — the Bruins let things unravel in devastating fashion during a pivotal Game 5 on home ice. 

… Is saved by the Bergeron Line: Reports of the Bergeron Line’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, apparently. After getting on the board with a 5v5 goal and a pair of power-play tallies by Bergeron in Thursday’s Game 4 win, Boston’s top forward trio imposed its will against the Blue Jackets on Saturday — and saved Boston from a crushing loss. An often-maligned Pastrnak provided the heroics — scoring his second goal of the evening with just 1:28 left on the clock to close out a wild third period and put the Blue Jackets on the brink in the best-of-seven series.

But Pastrnak (two goals) was far from the only big gun up front that bombarded the Blue Jackets on Saturday, however. After a line featuring both Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand were only out on the ice for a 5v5 goal in one of Boston’s first 10 playoff matchups — the duo have accomplished the feat in back-to-back contests in Games 4 and 5.

In total, the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line finished Saturday night with a CF% of 73.33 in 11:30 of 5v5 TOI together, while combining for three goals and six total points on the night. Gonna be hard to beat the Bruins if that line is firing on all cylinders again.

FIVE UP

David Pastrnak and the Bergeron Line: Don’t look now — but the 63-37-88 crew is now up to six goals and 11 total points over the last two games. That’s bad news if you’re the Blue Jackets. Big picture, those two third-period goals could be huuuuuuuuge for getting Pastrnak back on track. He wasn’t perfect with his puck handling, but it was a major improvement from his struggles earlier this series.




Brandon Carlo:
Carlo continues to be a difference maker in his first go-around in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 22-year-old defenseman swung the momentum back on Boston’s side in the final minutes of regulation, shutting down a charging
Artemi Panarin
in the B’s zone, scooping the puck away from the Columbus winger and feeding it up to Marchand — starting the rush that ended with Pastrnak’s game-winner. Winning plays, right there.




Charlie McAvoy:
Speaking of winning plays. Hell of a move here by McAvoy to step in front of a blast from Panarin with less than two seconds to go in regulation. Many assumed the worst after McAvoy headed down the tunnel, but he noted postgame that he feels fine and didn’t need to ice anything. Huge break for Boston.




Tuukka Rask:
Even with the Blue Jackets’ three-goal outburst in the third, Rask battled all night — turning aside a pair of fantastic scoring chances by
Cam Atkinson
and
Nick Foligno
in the second period before locking things down once Pastrnak gave Boston the lead for good. Rask finished the night with 33 saves on 36 shots on goal.


TWO DOWN


Zdeno Chara:
Rough night from the captain — as Chara was knocked back on Dzingel’s goal in the third period while also coughing up the puck multiple times during the crucial final minutes of play. The Jackets are pressuring the veteran defenseman and it’s working to great effect.


Danton Heinen:
Bit of a quiet night from Heinen, who logged the second-fewest minutes among forwards with an 11:12 TOI. He had a quality look against Bobrovsky after a great feed by
Charlie Coyle
in the early minutes of the third period, but he roofed it high over the Jackets’ net.  


PLAY(S) OF THE GAME


Which stop was better for Rask — a doorstep denial against
Cam Atkinson
or another brick-wall effort against
Nick Foligno
just minutes later on the power play? Why not both?




But in the end, you have to tip your cap to Pastrnak and his game-winner in the third.




PARTING THOUGHTS


Might as well keep the trend going, right? Question is, will
Tom Brady
be forced to chug a beer in due time if he’s asked to be a fan banner captain down the road?




Meanwhile, Torts is feeling pretty confident, eh?




LOOKING AHEAD


The Bruins will look to close out the series in Columbus on Monday night — with Game 6 slated for a 7 p.m puck drop. A win for the B’s will punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals and a showdown with a young, but skilled Hurricanes club.

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