Boone Jenner scored, and Spencer Martin made 25 saves for Columbus (8-14-4), which defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Friday.
“I was feeding off my teammates,” Martin said. “You see plays like [defenseman Erik] Gudbranson diving across the line at the end of the second period, and it wasn’t just that one, it was all night. I feel like I’ve been in some games that feel like a similar story where you’re just so close and it’s frustrating, but I’m going to stick with it.”
Jenner gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with 35 seconds left in the second period, jamming the puck past Swayman on a feed in front from Mathieu Olivier.
“I think we got to use [that momentum],” Jenner said. “We came in, felt good about our game after two [periods], and that’s [where] we want to come out. Be on our toes, get to our forecheck right away, and we weren’t able to.”
Marchand tied it 1-1 at 1:56 of the third period on a one-timer from the right circle. He then scored a wrist shot from the slot on the power play to give Boston a 2-1 lead at 5:37.
“We switch [David Pastrnak] and [Marchand] so they can go on their forehand,” McAvoy said, regarding power-play adjustments. “It’s nice to break through, and then you get an opportunity there at the end, and now we’re up 2-1, and it’s sort of like, you know, let’s deliver that final blow.”
The Bruins captain completed his hat trick with another power-play goal at 7:46, scoring from the left circle off a pass from Pavel Zacha to make it 3-1.
“It’s a big response, especially losing to these guys last time [5-2 on Nov. 27] on the back-to-back,” Swayman said. “I think it was really special for us to get our legs early and stay on top of them all three periods, and I just think morale is going to be in a good place moving forward, and I think we left it all out there.”
NOTES: The Blue Jackets fell to 4-3-0 since snapping their nine-game losing streak on Nov. 22 with a 7-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks. … Jenner scored his fourth game-opening goal of the season, tied with nine others for most in the NHL. … Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski had his 18th assist of the season, the fifth-most among defensemen so far this season behind: Cale Makar (27), Quinn Hughes (25), Filip Hronek (23) and Victor Hedman (20). … Marchand scored his sixth career hat trick and his first natural hat trick. Only two other Bruins skaters have recorded a natural hat trick in the past 10 years: Patrice Bergeron (Nov. 4, 2021 & Jan. 6, 2018) and Jake DeBrusk (Feb. 28, 2022). … Marchand scored three goals in a span of 5:50. The last Bruins player to record a hat trick in a shorter span of time was Martin Lapointe on March 13, 2003 (5:15).
