Bruins edge Blue Jackets, who fail to gain in Metropolitan race

On Sunday night at Nationwide Arena, the Blue Jackets fell 3-2 to Boston in a game that felt like their season was on the line.  

Columbus had an opportunity to tie Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division with two games to go, but the Bruins scored the deciding goal with 9:38 to go.

“(We were) as determined as we could be, as desperate as we could be. This one's a gut shot,” Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli said. “We understood everything going into this game, and we didn’t get it done. The level of disappointment is pretty high right now.” 

The Blue Jackets felt like they played well enough to win but couldn’t capitalize on their chances. They outshot the Bruins 35-22, including 14-3 in the first period, but weren’t able to come back after Mark Kastelic's winner canceled out Fantilli’s tying goal early in the frame.  

Head coach Rick Bowness said his team was frustrated by the night's outcome.  

“We’re all very disappointed in how it went tonight,” Bowness said. “The guys are heartbroken. We're heartbroken, and we've lost total control of what's going to happen. There's nothing we can do now, and we'll just have to sit back and see what happens tomorrow night in Philly.”

Tomorrow night, the Flyers face the Carolina Hurricanes, and the playoff math is now simple for the Blue Jackets going into the season’s final days. Sitting two points behind Philadelphia for third in the Metro, the Blue Jackets must beat Washington in regular Tuesday and have the Flyers drop their final two games Monday vs. Carolina and Tuesday vs. Montreal at home.  

Against a Boston team that did not dress regulars Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, Viktor Arvidsson and Tanner Jeannot, the Blue Jackets came out strong and earned a 1-0 lead in the opening minutes. Mason Marchment opened the scoring at 3:59 of the first period with a backdoor tap-in on a pass from Dante Fabbro for his 19th goal of the season. 

The Jackets moved the puck well in the first period, but they couldn’t find the back of the net on a few great chances. Boone Jenner had a chance against former Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo, but he was defended by former Ohio State Buckeye Mason Lohrei. Sean Monahan was inches away from scoring, but Bruins forward Michael Eyssimont swatted the puck away from the goal line at the last second after Korpisalo spilled a rebound in the crease. 

At 10:31 of the first period, former Blue Jacket and Columbus native Sean Kuraly made it 1-1 on the Bruins’ first shot on goal of the game. Kuraly's deflection goal past Jet Greaves started what would be a three-point night against his hometown team. 

Bowness said that after the Jackets’ strong start, they weren’t able to keep things going.  

“We started to fight the puck a little bit, so the execution was off. When your execution is off and you're fighting the puck, it's hard to keep momentum,” Bowness said. “It was more of that than anything. The guys were just fighting the puck, and we lost momentum from that.”

Boston had a much stronger showing in the second period, forcing Greaves to make a flurry of important saves, including a hard shot from rookie James Hagens from the left-wing circle in his NHL debut. Greaves made his second consecutive start on the back-to-back after Saturday’s 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens, making 19 saves.  

Miles Wood drew back-to-back penalties in the middle frame, but the Jackets’ power play failed to generate any momentum. Ranked 22nd in the league, the power play is currently converting at 19 percent.  

Another former Blue Jacket, Andrew Peeke, was given a roughing penalty against Wood after a scramble in front of the Boston net. Bruins forward Alex Steeves was sent to the box for high sticking Wood later, but Columbus couldn’t take advantage of either opportunity. 

“Our power play wasn't very good because the execution wasn't very good,” Bowness said. “You want your power play when they get out there to give you a boost, whether they score or not. There's some bad decisions and some bad execution.” 

With 18 seconds left in the second period, Bruins defenseman Henri Jokiharju gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a shot from the right circle that got past a screened Greaves. 

At 1:27 of the third period, Fantilli brought some life into the sellout crowd at Nationwide Arena with the tying goal on a breakaway for his 24th of the season, but Kastelic put the final nail in the coffin at 10:22 of the third period, tucking the puck in the top left corner of the net for a 3-2 Bruins lead.  

From there, the Blue Jackets desperately tried to recreate their last-second comeback victory against Detroit on Tuesday, but they couldn’t convert. Some of the best looks missed the net, and on the chances they were able to create, Korpisalo stood tall on the way to 33 saves.