Bruins fall to Blue Jackets in first game back from break
The slow start of a five-shot opening frame did not help the Bruins.
But it was a second period that saw things slip away — and slip away in a hurry, at that — that ultimately doomed the Bruins in a 6-2 loss to the Blue Jackets on Friday night.
Deadlocked at 1-1 through 20 minutes of play, the Blue Jackets pulled away from this game when they banged home three goals against the Bruins’ Joonas Korpisalo in a 2:47 stretch around the midway point of the period. And in the event that the three-goal explosion wasn’t enough, the Blue Jackets even found a way to increase their lead to four by the second intermission by way of yet another tally, this one scored with 46 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
The Bruins, meanwhile, got just two goals from their roster in this game, with a first-period marker from Pavel Zacha and a garbage-time marker from Charlie Coyle in the third period of action.
In a game where it felt like every single mistake led to a goal against, Korpisalo, a former Blue Jacket, took the loss for Boston, with six goals on 33 shots thrown his way.
The Bruins also allowed at least three power-play goals against for the sixth time this season.
All six of those games have come within the last 33 games for the Bruins. And to properly contextualize what was the rarity of at least three power-play goals against, it is worth noting that prior to that aforementioned ‘six times in their last 33 games’ stretch, the Bruins had allowed three power-play goals six times in their previous 652 games dating back to Feb. 9, 2016.
The sides will reconvene Saturday night in Boston.
