Bergeron, Bruins top Blue Jackets in Game 4, even series

COLUMBUS --Patrice Bergeron scored twice, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 at Boston on Saturday (7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Tuukka Rask made 39 saves, David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Sean Kuraly scored for the Bruins.
RELATED: [Watch all Boston vs. Columbus Game 4 highlights | Complete series coverage\]
"I don't think they got too many rebound opportunities," Rask said of the Blue Jackets. "That's how they've been scoring. They were trying to play down low, pushing more pucks in there but I thought we protected the house well, [I] saw every puck."
Artemi Panarin scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 42 saves for Columbus.
"Obviously it stings right now, but it's a series for a reason," Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said. "We knew it wasn't going to be an easy series against a team that has been there and done that. Game 5 is obviously a pretty big one."

The Bruins trailed their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before winning it in seven games. Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy said that series helped them prepare for Game 4.
"Everybody knew what was at stake tonight," he said. "We got a lot of good efforts. No one seemed panicked. We showed up today with the ambition of winning a hockey game and we did and that's a credit to us."
Pastrnak put Boston ahead 1-0 at 3:33 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer from the left face-off circle after a pass from McAvoy. Bobrovsky got a piece of the shot but it got behind him.
Bergeron made it 2-0 from the high slot on the power play at 7:18 after Rask got his blocker a Boone Jenner penalty shot 26 seconds earlier during the same man-advantage. Jenner was tripped by Brad Marchand.
"It's a huge stop because we score right after," Bergeron said of the Bruins, who were 1-for-10 on the power play in the first three games of the series. "It gave us a chance to redeem ourselves on the power play and get that goal."
Panarin cut it to 2-1 at 8:46 off a pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand. Before the goal, the puck hit the protective netting above the glass and came back onto the ice, and several Bruins players stopped.

Play was not stopped when the puck hit the netting, and the play was not reviewable because Panarin was not the first player to touch the puck afterward.
"It's easy to lose your composure when something like that happens, something out of [your] control," McAvoy said. "Credit to us to staying with it, realizing there's still a lot of hockey to be played."
Kuraly made it 3-1 from the low slot at 8:40 of the third period after a pass off the end boards caromed to Bobrovsky, who tried to clear the puck but had it deflect off Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard.
Bergeron scored on the power play with 2:30 remaining, poking in a rebound of a Pastrnak shot to make it 4-1.
Boston was 2-for-6 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
"We've kind of prided ourselves on being disciplined and that's the most disappointing part," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "Their top guys score some goals on the power play. We gave them a chance to get going now by just sitting in the box too much."

They said it

"Goalies get hot this time of year. Tuukka played great. We'd love him to stay hot, but to rely on your goalie to win games for you is bad form. He certainly did his part more tonight, but [in] general you need your top guys going." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on goalie Tuukka Rask
"It's a special-teams series. Whoever has the hotter power play that night, it seems they end up winning. They were better [on] special teams tonight. I think that we kicked ourselves in the foot. It wasn't anything that they were doing. It was our problem." -- Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson

Need to know

Bruins forward David Backes, who was a healthy scratch the previous five games, replaced Karson Kuhlman, who was a healthy scratch. Backes, who assisted on the goal by Kuraly, had a shot and five hits in 10:12. … Blue Jackets forward Riley Nash did not play because of an undisclosed injury. He was replaced by rookie Alexandre Texier. … The crowd of 19,431 was a record for a Columbus home game. The previous high was 19,395 for Game 4 of the first round against the Washington Capitals on April 19, 2018. … Teams that hold a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 series have a series record of 277-29 (.905), including 1-1 this season. Columbus has never led 3-1.

What's next

Game 5 of Eastern Conference Second Round at TD Garden on Saturday (7:15 p.m.; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS)