When it came down to the shootout, Columbus could not hold off the defending Stanley Cup champions in TD Garden, though they gave it a heck of a try. The Blue Jackets put forth a quality performance towards arguably the best team in the National Hockey League.
“I think the top line was a bit snake-bitten again, couple posts, couple of chances in overtime (we) couldn’t finish, but I thought it was a great effort against the best team in the league,” said captain Rick Nash.
Coming off a tough loss, Columbus bought into coach Scott Arniel’s system and consistently battled hard from the moment the puck dropped.
“The other night against Minnesota I thought it was thirty minutes of that and I thought tonight it was sixty-five minutes of all our lines doing the right things,” said Arniel.
Neither team scored in a back-and-forth first period as both backup goalies stood their ground facing a combined 11 shots. Curtis Sanford, making his first start as a member of the Blue Jackets, had a lot of help from his tight-checking defense.
Columbus’ active sticks forced turnovers and clogged passing lanes, which created problems for the home team. Also, dictating defense from the Blue Jackets’ blue-liners kept Boston to the perimeter of its offensive zone.
On a of couple occasions, the Bruins snuck into the middle of the ice and put together a pair of quality scoring chances.
Marc Methot blocked the first of these opportunities when he kept out a Boston shot while kneeling and facing away from the play. It appeared Methot was trying to break up the pass prior to the shot and had inadvertently gotten in the way of the potential go-ahead goal.
Later on, Sanford let a shot sail over his right shoulder, but the puck rang off the iron to keep the game square.
Less than one minute into the second period, R.J. Umberger caught a high stick to the face, giving Columbus its first power play of the night. With one second remaining on the man advantage, Derek Mackenzie deflected a shot from Nikita Nikitin to give the Blue Jackets the 1-0 lead.
Two minutes after the Columbus goal, Boston tied the game on a similar play. Adam McQuaid unleashed a shot from the point that seemed to glance off the body of Rich Peverley before finding the back of the net. The goal was officially credited to McQuaid.
Play continued to open up when Sean Thornton took exception to Jared Boll finishing his check. The bruisers traded haymakers before their scrap was broken up, and even then, Thornton did not stop. As the two were escorted to their respective penalty boxes, they continued to swap unfriendly words.
The Blue Jackets defense briefly unraveled near the halfway point of the game, allowing the Bruins more freedom with the puck. Though on the other end of the ice, Columbus upped the pressure.
The Blue Jackets put 14 shots on goal in the middle period, though Tuuka Rask’s stellar play kept the game tied. Rask made 30 saves in the game.
Heading into the third period, Columbus needed to buckle down. The Blue Jackets have had trouble closing out games this season while the Bruins have excelled in the final part of regulation.
Both teams tracked back on defense and flooded the zone on offense, though Boston controlled play for most of the period. The Bruins peppered Sanford with shots, but could not solve the Columbus goaltender.
The Blue Jackets scrambled to slow down the fast-paced play of the defending Stanley Cup champions until finally the horn sounded to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, Columbus picked up its play and started to play more like it had early in the night.
Early into the extra period, Antoine Vermette slashed Boston forward Todd Marchand in a conscious effort to save a dangerous Bruins’ breakaway. The Blue Jackets’ escaped the nerve-racking penalty kill with the help of Sanford who finished the game with 26 saves.
Then, with nearly one minute left in the game, Andrew Ference was called for boarding. Columbus’ ensuing power play was packed with scoring chances, though Tuuka Rask turned aside every shot to send the game to a shootout.
In the shootout, the first two shooters missed their attempts though Rich Peverley and Mark Letestu both tallied in the second round. Then, Boston’s third shooter David Krejci beat Curtis Sanford on the glove side to collect the game-winner.
It was a devastating loss for a team desperate for wins.
“I have to commend our guys,” said Arniel. “Against the Stanley Cup champions we went toe-to-toe and I would have just liked to see us be rewarded”
*All quotes were recorded from Fox Sports Net Ohio's post-game telecast
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