In Boston, Erik Haula hit for a double on Saturday in the Bruins’ 5-2 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.
Haula scored early in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie, the goal came off the power play, it was his second goal of the game.
“My mindset was to play off the shot and get to the netfront,” Haula said. “I feel like that was an area where we could maybe take advantage of them a little bit. We wanted to put pucks to the net, and we definitely had some looks right in the crease there. Got a couple goals there as well, so it was a good formula.”
Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves in the Boston win.
The Bruins improved to 43-20-5 and moved seven points clear of the Washington Capitals for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“We got back to playing the way we were supposed to [in the third period],” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Their goalie was seeing the puck well, so we needed some second and third efforts around the net to get it by him. Those are the things we talked about between periods, and I thought we took it to heart.”
Brad Marchand also scored for the Bruins.
“[Marchand] had a really good shift,” Cassidy said. “[DeBrusk] won a puck on a second effort, got it to the slot, [Bergeron] made a great play, and we ended up scoring on it. It kind of snowballed, I think, a shift or two before that with some positive energy from Brad.”
Columbus got goals from Gustav Nyquist and Justin Danforth.
“We were in this game. A 2-2 hockey game, and they score. We were doing a good job on the [penalty kill], then one shot and one tip,” Blue Jackets assistant Pascal Vincent said. “I’m disappointed for the players. They were doing a great job, and one shot, one tip. But that’s what good teams do, and that’s why those guys are competing for a Stanley Cup.”
The Blue Jackets dropped to 32-32-5.
“It’s just not good enough, and that’s something we talked about before the game, that we didn’t like our start last game,” Nyquist said. “Fortunately, we got in after that period 1-1, and I thought we got our legs under us in the second. It was a tight game.”
Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle added empty-net goals for the 5-2 final.
Elvis Merzlikins made 37 saves in the Jackets loss.
“They outplayed us for the majority of that game,” Danforth said. “I feel like when you take a shift off against these guys, they jump down your throat pretty easily. … I think we battled hard, but these moral victories aren’t going to cut it for us. We want to come in here and win.”
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