Blue Jackets top Bruins in overtime for eighth straight win

BOSTON -- Cam Atkinson scored at 2:55 of overtime and the Columbus Blue Jackets won their eighth straight game with a 5-4 victory against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday.
Boone Jenner, Sonny Milano, Thomas Vanek and Artemi Panarin scored for the Blue Jackets (40-28-5), who lead the New Jersey Devils by three points for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
The Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers each have 85 points, but the Flyers are in third place in the Metropolitan Division with one more regulation/overtime win.

WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Bruins highlights\]
Ryan Murray skated toward the blue line with the puck before he hit Atkinson with a pass on his way to the net, and Atkinson buried a wrist shot from the left side of the slot.
The Blue Jackets trailed 3-1 in the second period.
"We stuck with it, and that's what good teams do," Atkinson said. "It wasn't our prettiest, but we found a way to get two huge points."
Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves for Columbus.

"That game belongs to [Korpisalo]," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "It could've been 9-4, so he was outstanding. I'm thrilled for him."
Ryan Donato had one goal and two assists in his NHL debut for Boston (45-17-9), one day after he left Harvard after his junior season to sign his first contract. Brad Marchand, Riley Nash and David Krejci scored, and Tuukka Rask made 20 saves.
The Bruins are three points behind the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division with one game in hand.
"I mean, it was fun," said Donato, a second-round (No. 56) pick by the Bruins in the 2014 NHL Draft. "Obviously it ended tough, but at the end of the day I was excited and I think it all went well personally, but I'd say it's still bitter because of the loss."

Vanek made it 3-3 with a tip-in at 5:38 of the third period.
Panarin gave the Blue Jackets a 4-3 lead at 11:30 of the third before Krejci tied it 4-4 20 seconds later.
Nash scored a power-play goal at 16:32 of the second period to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead, but Milano scored on a tip-in of Murray's slap pass 25 seconds later to make it 3-2.
"I'm really proud of the group," Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. "That's not an easy win because we didn't play well. We had unbelievable goaltending but found a way to win."
Jenner scored on a deflection off his leg 4:15 into the first period to give the Blue Jackets at 1-0 lead.

Donato tied the score 1-1 at 5:41 of the second period with a one-timer from outside the right face-off dot on a return pass from Torey Krug during a 3-on-2.
Marchand gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 7:28 with a backhand high to the short side from the slot after a pass back from David Pastrnak on a 2-on-1.

Goal of the game

Atkinson's goal at 2:55 of overtime.

Save of the game

Korpisalo's save against Marchand at 13:14 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Donato's goal at 5:41 of the second period.

They said it

"We have played games, outstanding games, and have lost. I thought we [stunk] tonight and we won." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"Ryan played a good game. Good for his confidence to get the first one. That is always the hardest, but he's got to keep playing the way he played today. I thought he played well and he made some good plays. He easily could have got a couple of more, but that's a good start for him." -- Bruins forward David Krejci on Ryan Donato

Need to know

Jenner has a four-game goal streak and has eight points (five goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak. ... Bruins forward Rick Nash was scratched despite practicing Monday because of an upper-body injury he sustained at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. … Defenseman Adam McQuaid didn't play in the third period because of an undisclosed injury. ... Donato became the eighth Bruins player to score his first NHL goal this season, following Jake DeBrusk, Charlie McAvoy, Anders Bjork, Danton Heinen, Sean Kuraly, Peter Cehlarik and Matt Grzelcyk. ... The Bruins had won their past seven home games.

What's next

Blue Jackets: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Bruins: At the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, NHL.TV)