Pastrnak Pots 30th, But Bruins Drop Another in OT

BOSTON - The Bruins once again found themselves on the wrong end of an extra time decision on Thursday night as they saw another third-period lead slip away en route to a 2-1 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden.
Boston dropped to 2-11 in overtime or the shootout this season, giving the Black & Gold, by far, the most such losses of any team this season (Columbus ranks second eight non-regulation defeats). Nine of the Bruins' extra time losses have come on home ice (14-1-9).
"It's frustrating, obviously…there have been plenty of them this year," said David Pastrnak, who potted Boston's first goal of the 2020s with his 30th of the season in the second period. "Probably getting a little bit in our head. We want to win a lot of those. Missing some confidence there. We haven't been doing well in it, so it's frustrating."

Like they have in so many of their overtime losses, the Bruins had their chance to secure 2 points with a strong opportunity in the 3-on-3. Pastrnak had a chance off of a feed from David Krejci go just wide, leading to a Columbus odd-man rush that finished with Seth Jones finding Pierre-Luc Dubois for a one-time winner just 52 seconds into the extra session.
"I think we can out-change the other team a little bit better and be respectful of our changes and see what happens," said Torey Krug. "Obviously we have to capitalize on our chances - we had a pretty decent chance tonight to, Pasta had a good chance but just couldn't come up with it. That's what happens, it's kind of a crapshoot at times."

The Bruins were, perhaps, even more frustrated that they let another lead slip away. After surrendering a 2-0 lead in New Jersey on Tuesday afternoon, Boston carried a 1-0 advantage into the third against Columbus, before Sonny Milano banked a shot in off of Matt Grzelcyk's skate just 2:06 into the final frame.
"It's another lead going into the third period we weren't able to close out," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "That's as frustrating as anything. You give up a goal, you push to try to get another one. I thought, again, some opportunities around their net - they did a good job blocking shots. We hit a good one right off the post.
"As for the overtime, some of it is we've got to smarten up. Can't get caught diving down low. That's happened more than once this year. On those puck battles away from your net, if you don't make a play at their end, you've got to make sure you put yourself in a better spot defensively to defend the rush or get off the ice.
"That's cost us a few times, so at some point you've got to learn from those mistakes as well."

More notes and numbers from the B's loss to Columbus:

Pastrnak Pots 30th

Pastrnak opened the scoring at 11:07 of the second period when he ripped a rocket one-timer from the point off a feed from Torey Krug on the power play. It was the winger's 30th goal of the season in his 42nd game, making him the fastest Bruin to that mark since Cam Neely did it in 27 games in 1993-94.
The 23-year-old has now registered 30 goals in four consecutive seasons. He also extended his point streak to nine games (4-10-14).
The tally gave Boston power-play goals in nine straight games (11 for 36, 30.6%). The B's have also killed off 21 consecutive penalties over a span of seven games.

On the Board

The Bruins had one victory on Thursday night as they won their first coach's challenge of the season on their first attempt. After having several goals wiped off the board by opposing teams' challenges this season, Boston opted to review the Blue Jackets' strike just 17 seconds into the game for goalie interference.
Upon review, it was determined that Tuukka Rask's ability to make a save on Gustav Nyquist's shot was hampered enough by Boone Jenner's presence in the crease to negate the tally.
"We actually talked about it on the bench, wondering if we were going to get the call or not," said Krug. "It's nice to get it. Who knows if it starts that way, you don't know what road the games going to go down. I think that we have the right group in there to respond appropriately, but you never know."

Krug and Co. Return

Boston had plenty of reinforcements as Krug, Charlie McAvoy, and David Krejci all returned from injuries. Krug picked up the primary assist on Pastrnak's tally and played 20:39 in his first game since Dec. 23.
"Pretty good actually," Krug said of how he felt. "The first was a little shaky, just trying to get my bearings and timing and breakout passes. I made a few early which definitely helped calm myself down, but overall I felt pretty good."

By the Numbers

• Zdeno Chara joined Sharks forwards Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton as the 12th, 13th, and 14th players in NHL history to play in four different decades. The B's captain had one shot on goal and one hit in 17:14 of ice time.
• Rask made 31 saves and extended his home point streak to 16 games. It is the longest home point streak to open a season by a Bruins goalie since Gilles Gilbert went 16-0-1 in his first 17 home decisions in 1973-74. "He was great," said Krug. "He gave us a chance to win. Obviously, I can't speak for him but the fact that he rebounded after they got that goal early and it was disallowed - I think that gave him a boost of energy. He played well…they made one more play than us and we have to find a way to get him the win."