Bruins return favor to Blue Jackets on Garden ice
Fortunately for the Bruins, the sour taste of Friday’s beatdown at the hands of the Blue Jackets lasted less than 24 hours, as Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins successfully returned the favor against Columbus by way of a 4-0 victory at TD Garden on Saturday night.
It was about as balanced an attack as the B’s could’ve had, too, with goals in all three periods, and with scoring from three of their four lines throughout the evening.
And looking for a strong start after a sleepy one the night before, the B’s kicked things off with a Justin Brazeau tally just 2:29 into the first period behind some net-front chaos, pinball-style bouncing around 6-foot-5 Blue Jackets netminder Daniil Tarasov.
Up 1-0 through 20 minutes of play, the Bruins doubled their lead with Morgan Geekie’s fourth goal in his last seven outings, scored at the 6:29 mark of the middle frame, and pushed their lead out to three on a David Pastrnak breakaway chance completed behind a top-shelf burial from Boston’s top threat.
The Bruins continued their push in the third, too, and put a fourth marker on the board behind Cole Koepke’s first goal since Dec. 1, and his first goal with a goalie in net since Nov. 7 against Calgary.
Swayman, meanwhile, overcame some early-game struggles with the puck and held down the fort in the Black and Gold zone, with 18 saves on 18 shots faced. It was Swayman’s second shutout of the season, and first since a 23-of-23 performance against the Kraken back on Nov. 3.
Prior to the game, the Bruins recalled Fabian Lysell from AHL Providence for what was the 2021 first-round pick’s NHL debut. Skating in a third-line role, Lysell helped create Boston’s first goal with speed on the entry as well as his ability to draw two Columbus defenders his way to leave a puck for Brazeau behind the Columbus net, and finished his debut with a plus-1 rating and in 11:32 of time on ice.
With Lysell in, the Bruins scratched winger Oliver Wahlstrom, and made two other lineup changes, as Marc McLaughlin jumped in for Johnny Beecher on Boston’s fourth line, while Parker Wotherspoon slid back into action on Boston’s backend in place of Jordan Oesterle.
The Bruins will get back to work Tuesday afternoon when they visit the Capitals for a New Year’s Eve matinee. The game will mark the start of a three-game road trip that’ll feature showdowns with the Rangers and Maple Leafs following their contest in Washington.
