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Boston Bruins strike back with 4-0 win to extend Columbus Blue Jackets' road woes
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- Boston Bruins strike back with 4-0 win to extend Columbus Blue Jackets' road woes
The Blue Jackets boarded a flight Friday night after an impressive win over the Boston Bruins with a goal of improving on the road in a rematch 24 hours later.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets takeaways: Top line, power play shine in rout over Boston Bruins
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Instead, after a 4-0 loss to the Bruins on Saturday night at TD Garden, the Jackets' frustrations away from Nationwide Arena continued with a spate of key turnovers that led to settling for a home-and-home split after the NHL's holiday break.
"I thought we handled it really well until we gave them four goals ... or three, for sure," Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason told reporters in Boston during a televised postgame interview. "We knew (the Bruins) were going to push, for sure. We knew they were going to have a (good) start, and we thought we handled it really well. You just can't turn two pucks completely over (in the second period) and just give them two goals, one a breakaway and a pass into the slot. It's crazy, right? We did this to ourselves."
Dec 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Mathieu Olivier (24) and Boston Bruins center Morgan Geekie (39) battle for a loose puck during the second period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
Daniil Tarasov started for the Blue Jackets (15-16-6) and took the loss in net while allowing four goals on 28 shots in his first action since allowing six goals in a 6-3 loss Dec. 5 in Edmonton . Jeremy Swayman pitched his second shutout of the season for the Bruins (20-14-4), improving to 5-1-0 in seven career games against Columbus with an 18-save outing.
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Boston's goals were scored by Justin Brazeau , Morgan Geekie , David Pastrnak and Cole Koepke .
Brazeau put Boston up 1-0 just 2:29 into the game on the Bruins' second shot against Tarasov, who lost track of the puck after making a save. Brazeau tapped it into the net before Blue Jackets forward Mikael Pyyhtia could swat it away from the goal line.
The Bruins' 1-0 lead lasted into the start of the second, when it moved to 3-0 on goals by Geekie at 6:29 and Pastrnak at 8:18 on a breakaway. Both tallies were preceded by Blue Jackets turnovers that put Tarasov in tough spots to make saves.
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Geekie's wrist shot following Damon Severson 's errant pass into the slot, which probably could've been stopped by the Blue Jackets' goalie. Pastrnak, however, was gifted a two-zone breakaway after Dante Fabbro 's pass inside the Boston blue line hit defense partner Zach Werenski in the skates and sent the puck to Geekie for a quick exit pass springing the break.
"We played a lot of good hockey here tonight, but when you're out on the road and you're not having success, you need to really simplify your game and not turn it over," Evason said. "We didn't. We did turn it over and it went in the net."
Dec 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) makes a glove save during the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
Another turnover by Blue Jackets defensemen Ivan Provorov and rookie Denton Mateychuk in the third left the puck on the Bruins' blue line for a rush up ice that Koepke capped with his goal at 6:06 for a commanding 4-0 lead. Outside of their turnovers, the Blue Jackets generated enough scoring chances despite being outshot 28-18 for the game.
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Swayman just came up with several big saves and the Blue Jackets also failed to convert a few great scoring chances into goals — including Sean Monahan hitting the left post from close range in the first period and Kirill Marchenko hitting the crossbar on a breakaway early in the second, when the Bruins clung to a 1-0 lead. The loss dropped the Blue Jackets to just 4-12-3 on the road, but four of their next five games are at home.
That stretch begins with a tough New Year's Eve matchup Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes .
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets shut out by Boston Bruins in latest road loss
