BSJ Game Report: Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 0 - Bruins, Ullmark dominate Columbus on road for 5th straight win

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

B’s put forth 60-minute effort en route to 5th straight win: No Brad Marchand? No David Krejci? No problem for the Boston Bruins.

The 2022-23 Columbus Blue Jackets sure aren’t the ‘84-’85 Oilers, but it looked as though the Bruins were going to have their work cut out for them on Friday night at Nationwide Arena — with Boston on the second leg of a back-to-back slate and skating without both Marchand (scheduled night off) and Krejci (upper-body injury).

Add in the fact that the Blue Jackets had the previous two nights off, and this had all of the makings of a trap game for Jim Montgomery’s team

But rather than gut or grind their way to a point or two, the Bruins went out and posted arguably their most complete win of the young season, dominating down both ends of the ice en route to a 4-0 victory over Columbus. 

For the seventh time in nine games, the Bruins scored four or more goals — with Matt Grzelcyk’s first-period tally giving Boston 15 different goal-scorers on the year.

Add in another stellar performance in net from Linus Ullmark (30-save shutout) and a stout showing from Boston’s D corps (Columbus generated just six high-danger scoring chances at 5v5 play), and the Blue Jackets just never had a chance in this one. 

This was about as professional and efficient of a road game as you could ask for. 

Supporting cast steps up for shorthanded Bruins: Even without both Marchand and Krejci (and Charlie McAvoy, for what it’s worth), the Bruins still have more than enough start talent in place on this roster to accrue points at a steady clip — especially with Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm playing at a high level.

But it was also encouraging to see a lot of Boston’s key cogs on their supporting cast in Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk and Grzelcyk all score in a game like this. 

As we’ve said time and time again, the Bruins can’t just rely on their stars to serve as cheat codes, especially once the calendar flips to the postseason. 

Boston isn’t necessarily looking for guys like Jakub Lauko or A.J. Greer to develop into middle-six weapons, but if Boston wants to consistently generate even-strength offense, the B’s are going to need players like Coyle/Grzelcyk/DeBrusk to be playing at their best.

So far, so good. 

Linus Ullmark continues strong start: Boston eventually ran the Blue Jackets off of their own ice, but the first few minutes were a bit dicey for the B’s, with an early power play giving Columbus a bevy of Grade-A chances.

But Ullmark was up to the task, making a number of key stops on that 5v4 sequence — with Grzelcyk scoring exactly 1:00 after Boston’s penalty expired to decisively swing momentum back in Boston’s favor.

Jeremy Swayman’s strong performance on Thursday against the Red Wings (28 saves on 29 shots) should allow him to earn more starts moving forward — but Ullmark’s hold on the 1A spot on the depth chart doesn’t seem to be loosening any time soon. 

SIX UP

Linus Ullmark: This game ended up being a laugher, but things could have gone off the rails in the early going if Ullmark didn’t withstand that early salvo of Columbus shots. So far this season, Linus Ullmark is 6-0-0 with a .945 save percentage.

Matt Grzelcyk: No rust has been present on Grzelcyk since returning from his offseason shoulder surgery — with the Charlestown native now up to four points (one goal, three assists) in his first five games.

Charlie Coyle: After scoring a nifty wrister goal on Thursday against Detroit, Coyle was back at it on Friday — beating Elvis Merzlikins with a slick backhand shot at 4:30 in the second for a shorthanded tally. Coyle, who is also leading all B’s forwards in shorthanded TOI per game (3:03) perhaps isn’t stacking up points, but he’s been active, engaged and driving play both on the PK unit and on that third line.

Jake DeBrusk: DeBrusk’s strong start continued on Friday, with the winger routinely generating quality chances with his north-south game and skating talent. DeBrusk made Columbus pay in a hurry in the second period with a 200-foot play, blocking a shot in the high slot and immediately taking it the other way for a breakaway tally. 

David Pastrnak: With Marchand and Krejci both out, Pastrnak more than pulled his weight in the top-six unit on Friday — finishing with another goal while recording six shots and four hits. Might want to get that contract done sooner rather than later. 

Hampus Lindholm: Lindholm continues to go about his business and anchor this B’s blue line with McAvoy still on the mend. Lindholm once again led the B’s in ice time at 22:15 while routinely negating chances around Boston’s net. Along with his crisp play with the puck and sound decision-making, Lindholm has also shown a willingness to throw his weight around a bit more this season — causing some woes for Patrik Laine on Friday. 

THREE DOWN?

I mean … I got nothing. That was about as complete of a win as you can ask for. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will continue their four-game road trip on Tuesday with a matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m.