BSJ Game Report: Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 2 - Swayman strong, B’s struggle with penalties in win over Columbus

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Penalties make for a frustrating win: The Bruins once again avoided consecutive losses for the first time all season, besting the Blue Jackets, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

A two-goal salvo from Taylor Hall and Tomas Nosek in the span of 19 seconds made this final score rather lopsided in the closing minutes of the third period, but that surge didn’t exactly tell the full story of what was another frustrating performance from the Bruins – who are in the midst of perhaps their first sustained lull of the 2022-23 campaign. 

Because before Hall and Nosek gave this team some much-needed breathing room, Boston was once again treading water and clinging to a one-goal lead for most of the third period against a tomato can — a direct result of Boston once again making things hard on themselves by way of multiple trips to the sin bin. 

After a slew of penalties doomed Boston in an ugly loss to the Kings on Thursday night, the B’s didn’t learn their lesson against Columbus — with the Blue Jackets cashing in twice on the five power-play bids that Boston handed them. 

Jim Montgomery’s system tweaks have opened the door for Boston to be far more aggressive this season — and a stout Bruins PK unit has often negated the penalty trouble that Boston has found itself in.

But with 22 minor penalties in the last five games, the Bruins have been playing with fire for far too long over this stretch,  and keeping opponents in games when they should be putting them on the ropes.

A strong showing from Jeremy Swayman (31 saves) stood as a welcome development for the Bruins, but a win like Saturday shows that there is still plenty that this team still needs to correct in the short term.

"I don't think we're playing very good hockey. We're not,” Montgomery said postgame. “I don't think we're checking well enough. I don't think we're playing fast enough with or without the puck, and it's leading to us spending more time in our own end, which is leading to us getting on the wrong side of pucks.

“So we're taking a lot of stick infractions, especially in the offensive zone where our forwards have been very good all year of being over the top of people. We're not there right now. And that's leading to us leaking oil a little bit in how we want to play.”

Bergeron honored for reaching 1,000 career points: Ahead of puck drop, the Bruins honored Patrice Bergeron with a pregame ceremony in recognition of reaching 1,000 career points earlier this season. 

Along with receiving gifts from Johnny Bucyk, Don Sweeney, Cam Neely, David Krejci and Brad Marchand, Bergeron was bestowed a video tribute by Phil Esposito, Bucyk and Ray Bourque — with the three Bruins legends welcoming him into the 1,000-point club. 

“If there’s a better all-around player in the league, I don’t know who it is,” Esposito said of Bergeron. “I’ve watched this guy for years. I love the way he plays. He’s so responsible and he just plays his game. For me, he’s a first-time election in the Hall of Fame.”

THREE UP

David Pastrnak: The points continue to pile up for Boston’s go-to sniper. With his first-period strike on the power play, Pastrnak became the eighth player in the NHL to hit the 20-goal mark — with the pending UFA now up to 20 tallies and 42 points over 30 games. 

Taylor Hall: Hall once again found himself shuffled between David Krejci and Charlie Coyle’s lines throughout Saturday’s matchup. But wherever the veteran winger is slotted, he just keeps on producing. With another two-point showing against the Blue Jackets, Hall has now scored seven goals and posted 12 points in his last nine games.

Jeremy Swayman: The Bruins really hung Swayman out to dry for extended stretches in this one due to their penalty woes, but the B’s netminder was up to the task — stopping 31 of the 33 shots that came his way. And he nearly ended his stout performance with a tally after Columbus pulled their goalie. Alas.

"I thought he was our best player and I think he needed to be,” Montgomery said of Swayman.

TWO DOWN

Penalty trouble: The Bruins might boast one of the top PK groups in the league, but the Bruins are continuing to make things hard on themselves because of their propensity to end up in the sin bin. Need to tighten things up.

Penalty kill: Taking 22 penalties in the span of five games has to drain even the most effective shorthanded squads — because Boston let a Columbus power play that entered Saturday with a 2-for-28 success rate on the road double that output in this game. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

 LOOSE PUCKS

In some respects, I’m glad that Swayman’s potential goalie goal went juuuuuuuust wide … but only because TD Garden would probably still be in orbit had he buried that chance. But what a sight it would have been. 

“I wanna score so bad, man. It’ll happen,” Swayman said.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will continue their five-game homestand on Monday when they welcome the Florida Panthers at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.