Bruins return from Olympic break with win over Blue Jackets

Thursday night against the Blue Jackets is unlikely to make Bruins head coach Marco Sturm's end-of-year mixtape. But over three weeks removed from their last NHL game, the Bruins took care of business in what was arguably their most important game of the season to date with a 4-2 victory at TD Garden.

“We didn’t like our first period," Sean Kuraly, whose third-period goal ultimately held as the game-winning goal in this one, offered. "We weren’t happy with our first 20, we came in here and tried to refocus. We found a way, lot of guys blocking a lot of shots was indicative of us knowing what this game meant.” 

But while the Bruins ultimately put three goals by the Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins and added a fourth by way of an empty-net dagger from Viktor Arvidsson, it was the Bruins' netminders that did the job in this one. Netminders, yes.

With Joonas Korpisalo pulled by the NHL concussion spotter in the second period, Michael DiPietro was summoned into the Boston goal for 6:03 of work. Into the game at 1-1, and leaving it with two saves and a 2-1 lead, DiPietro did all that the B's could've asked out of him in a rather bizarre situation. It was also perhaps a necessary breather for Korpisalo in what was a 36-save outing.

“[Korpisalo] was unbelievable today,” Sturm said following the win. “Glad he came back right away from the Olympics and didn’t waste any time and wanted to be in practice. I thought the last two days were very important for him just to be back on the ice and have a real practice again. And Mikey, wow, what a story. Good for Mikey. This guy has been rock solid all year long."

In addition to the 38 saves from the B's goaltending tandem, the Bruins got goals from Arvidsson and Geekie, and successfully killed their only penalty of the evening on the way to pushing their point streak to eight (5-0-3).

Originally considered a game-time decision due to his travel-heavy schedule since winning gold, Charlie McAvoy did suit up for the Bruins and finished with an assist and two blocks in 23:55 of time on ice.

While McAvoy ultimately suited up for this game, Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman was a scratch from this contest. Swayman, who served as Connor Hellebuyck's backup during Team USA's run to gold in Milan and then traveled to D.C. with his teammates to visit the White House, arrived back in town mere hours before Wednesday's practice in Brighton. And though Swayman did see some action, the Bruins decided to give Swayman some extra time to get 'acclimated' given the way they expect to lean on him down the stretch.

As Kuraly mentioned, this was a gigantic game for the Bruins, as the win gave them some much-needed breathing room over the Blue Jackets for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Bruins will get back to work Saturday afternoon when they visit the Flyers.