Kuraly Posts Three Points, Hagens Debuts in Bruins Win Over Columbus

COLUMBUS –– The Boston Bruins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Sunday night at Nationwide Arena, fueled by a five-point showing from their fourth line, and an impressive NHL debut from James Hagens.​

The Bruins, who clinched a spot in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday, sat some of their regulars. Henri Jokiharju, Jordan Harris, Alex Steeves and Lukas Reichel entered the lineup for Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Tanner Jeannot and Viktor Arvidsson.

The team’s depth was on full display. Sean Kuraly finished the night with three points, and Mark Kastelic and Jokiharju each had two.

“It was a great win, first of all, just without a few guys,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “Guys worked extremely hard like they’ve done all year long. It was not really a surprise. Also glad some guys got rewarded today – a guy like Kasty, Joki. These guys, they put in a lot of work, so it’s nice to see.”

Former Blue Jacket Joonas Korpisalo also posted 33 saves in the victory, on the second night of a back-to-back for the B’s.​

“Credit to us, we got a lot of new guys in the lineup tonight, and everybody did their job,” Kuraly said. “We knew no one had to do any more than just their job.”

Columbus got out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal from Mason Marchment at 3:59, but the Bruins soon found the equalizer thanks to Kuraly, who spent the prior four seasons with the Blue Jackets.

Jokiharju rocketed one from the point, which Kastelic tipped before it knocked off of a net-front Kuraly’s boot and in at 10:31 to tie things 1-1. It was Kuraly’s sixth goal of the season; the last time the forward scored was on Feb. 26 against Columbus, too.

“We think leading up to the game, we’ve been doing the right things. After you’ve been through it so many years in a row, you know that if you do the right things, it will eventually find its way in the back of the net. Just try to treat the changes and the way the puck bounces the same, and just keep going,” Kuraly said. “Tonight felt good. Can’t sugarcoat that.”

Jokiharju buried one of his own to give the Bruins a 2-1 advantage with 18.6 seconds remaining in the middle frame.

Hagens, who earned his first NHL point with the secondary assist, got the play started with a strong forecheck down low, freeing the puck up for Kuraly to dish to Jokiharju in the right circle. The 26-year-old defenseman wristed it past Jet Greaves for his second goal of the season and second point of the night.

“He’s got two or three guys on him, and I think good players like that, they’re just patient. He’s not doing anything with the puck until he realizes someone is there,” Kuraly said of Hagens’ work on the scoring play. “He just stood over the puck, and a good lesson for all of us from the kid, I guess.”

​Hagens skated on the third line with Marat Khusnutdinov and Fraser Minten. The 19-year-old forward had one point and one shot through 13:08 of ice time in his first game as a Bruin.

“I thought he was good. I thought the whole line was great. They used their speed, they were not afraid to make plays, they made a lot of good decisions. They never really got in trouble,” Sturm said. “Coming in here in Columbus, like you all know, it’s a tough building. I was curious for James, too, how he was going to handle it, and I thought he did a good job.”

Hagens had 13 friends and family members in the building, including his mom, dad, brother and sister. He said his first-point puck is going to his mom.

​“It was really cool looking up in warmups and seeing them there. Seeing how much support they have for me. They flew out this morning, so it means a lot to have them here,” Hagens said. “To be able to get that win, it was special.”

Adam Fantilli knotted the contest 2-2 at 1:27 of the third period, but the Bruins regained their lead with a tally from Kastelic at 10:22, marking his second point of the game.

​Jordan Harris, another former Blue Jacket, sent the puck towards the net, where Kuraly got it over to Kastelic on the left side to snipe in for the 3-2 lift and his 10th goal of the season. Kuraly collected his third point of the night, too. It was his second-ever three-point performance, and first since November 2022. 

“You just try to play well. There’s a lot of really good teammates, good players, good guys in that room that I have a ton of respect for,” Kuraly said of Columbus. “It feels good to be on this side and come out on top, there’s no doubt about that.”

The Bruins will close out the regular season on Tuesday when they host the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden.