Boston Bruins

In Boston for a St. Patrick’s Day weekend contest against the Blue Jackets, it was only fitting that Patrice Bergeron (St. Patrice, for those unaware) opened up the scoring for the Bruins on their first shot of the game.

And that Bergeron’s linemate, Brad Marchand, came through with the lucky winner in a 2-1 overtime win over Columbus.

But in what was a tight-checking game in all three zones for both teams, the Blue Jackets answered Bergeron’s tally before the end of the first period when Matt Duchene made John Moore look silly en route to his 30th goal of the season.

From there, the intensity and physical was ramped up on either side, as Joonas Korpisalo and Jaroslav Halak traded saves, while each team looked to straight-up pulverize the opposition into the boards on each offensive zone rush.

Halak made 24 saves in the winning effort, and the Black and Gold appeared more than sound in front of No. 41.

With that aforementioned first-period goal against Korpisalo, Bergeron joined the 800-point club.

In doing so, the veteran Boston pivot became just the sixth player in Bruins history to amass at least 800 points in town, joining a list that features Bobby Orr, Rick Middleton, Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk, and Ray Bourque.

Jake DeBrusk made his return to the Boston lineup after missing five games with a lower-body ailment.

The Bruins will head back on the road for a four-game road trip that kicks off Tuesday night against the Islanders.