Bruins Pull Off 4-3 Comeback, Shootout Win Over Columbus

COLUMBUS –– The scoreboard read 3-0 at Nationwide Arena on Sunday evening.

There were fewer than three minutes remaining in the first period between the Boston Bruins and the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the visiting team was trailing early.

Tanner Jeannot decided to shake things up. The B’s forward dropped the gloves with the 6-foot-5, 222-pound Erik Gudbranson. Mark Kastelic followed suit the very next shift, engaging in another heavyweight bout with Mathieu Olivier.

​While the Bruins did not strike until the third period, Jeannot and Kastelic started to change the momentum for their team. And, a few hours later, Boston was piling out onto the ice to celebrate a comeback 4-3 shootout win against the Blue Jackets.

“Those two are the true heroes tonight. Understanding the situation we're in, stepping up and taking on two pretty big opponents,” said Jeremy Swayman, who made 21 saves in his first back-to-back start of the season. “I respect the hell out of those guys. They’ve been pulling for us all year. Really happy to get the win, especially for those two.”

Pavel Zacha’s second goal of the night, with 11 seconds remaining in regulation, sent the contest to overtime. Swayman continued to shut it down for the B’s the rest of the way; Fraser Minten and Viktor Arvidsson scored in the shootout to secure the extra point.

​“It says all about our team we’ve got this year. Guys chipped in, guys care for each other,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “Kasty and Jeannot took the lead. Sway saved us big time. And then I think we just took over by playing just our game.”

Before the Bruins came storming back, Columbus controlled the first period. Boone Jenner got his team started with a snapshot at 6:17 before Mason Marchment’s tip-in tally at 7:45 made it 2-0. Charlie Coyle, the former Bruin, scored on the power play for the 3-0 advantage at 19:32.

“That wasn’t the first period that we wanted, knowing the stakes of this game, but I think we started to find it in the second,” Charlie McAvoy said. “Our mindset was we’re just a shot away from this being a very different game. That’s the resilience, I think, that we’ve tried to embody all year.”

Both teams were kept off the scoresheet in the middle frame, but Boston felt its play was building.

“We know when we don’t have a good start, we find a way to come back to games. Today, I think Jeannot and Kasty gave us the little pulse we needed coming into the second period,” Zacha said. “And then kind of sticking with it, second and third period. Finding a way to win.”

The Bruins battled in the third period. McAvoy put the B’s on the board at 6:29. Arvidsson chipped the puck down to Zacha in the corner, who pushed it up to McAvoy at the point, where he wristed it in for the 3-1 scoreline and his 11th goal of the season.

Zacha pulled Boston within one, 3-2, with a power-play goal soon after. It was the same trio who made it happen. This time, Arvidsson whacked the puck up to McAvoy, who unleashed a shot that Zacha tipped in at 8:43. McAvoy’s assist on the play earned the defenseman a new career-high in points with 57 (11 goals, 46 assists).  

“We just made enough plays in the third period to get us back into it,” McAvoy said.

It was Zacha, again, who knotted things 3-3 at 19:49 while on the power play. Arvidsson – who picked up his third assist of the night – poked the puck loose in front for Zacha to knock in. It was his 28th goal of the season and fifth in the last three games.

The matchup ultimately went to overtime and the shootout, where the Bruins pulled off a character, come-from-behind win that earned them two more points in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

“I think it will absolutely help us without confidence,” McAvoy said. “For the stakes at the end of the year and moving forward, we have that in our head like, ‘Hey boys, we’ve done it before, we’ve been there before, we’ve done it.’ And we can have that real belief.”