Bruins top Blue Jackets, extend home point streak to 18 games

BOSTON --The Boston Bruins extended their season-opening point streak at home to 18 games with a 4-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden on Saturday.

David Pastrnak, Taylor Hall and David Krejci each had a goal and an assist, and Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves for Boston (24-4-2), which is the fourth team in NHL history with 50 or more points through its first 30 games, joining the 1929-30 Bruins (51 points), San Jose Sharks (52 points in 2008-09) and Chicago Blackhawks (51 points in 2012-13).
"It's not easy to be up here [playing at a high level] the whole time," Hall said. "And I think tonight maybe we found our, maybe our B-game. We found it in the third period, like I said, but it wasn't good enough for the first couple periods."
Boston is 16-0-2 at home this season, including a 3-2 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
"Big two points," Swayman said. "We don't lose two in a row, so we were excited. It was a big night for [Patrice Bergeron] and we were just super, super motivated to get that win for him."
Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist, Johnny Gaudreau had two assists, and Daniil Tarasov made 35 saves for Columbus (10-18-2), which is 2-6-0 in its past eight games and has lost three straight, allowing four goals in each.
"There's been several games here we've put a lot of good minutes in," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "It's a couple moments that's hurting us, and that's the frustrating part because you're pouring a lot into these games, you're not getting any results, so it's too bad."
Pastrnak gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 7:17 of the first period on a power play with a snap shot after receiving a pass from Hampus Lindholm in the left face-off circle. It is his 20th goal of the season.

"[Pastrnak's] ability to see plays, make plays in a flash of an eighth of a second," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "He thinks the guys in his shot lane, which he was. He takes a step to the middle and lets a rocket go."
Boston did not allow a shot on goal until 10:20 of the first, when Gaudreau's wrist shot was stopped by Swayman.
"They play hard defensively," Columbus captain Boone Jenner said. "They're stingy back there, and you gotta fight for your chances. We knew that going in, so [we've] got to generate the hard way against teams like that."
Jenner tied it 1-1 at 14:00 of the second period on a power play with a backhand under the crossbar while facing away from the goal.
"We tied the game up 1-1, and that's a big goal," Gaudreau said. "You need to score goals like that and then, obviously, we took a few more penalties, and they capitalized on a few more, but we can still get better each day."
Krejci restored Boston's lead at 17:50 on a power play with a one-timer from the left circle after receiving a pass from Charlie McAvoy to make it 2-1.
"When things are going really well, I think the obvious thing that you need to avoid is complacency," McAvoy said. "We're in a great position. We've earned the right to be here and played very well along the way, and for us, it's about continuing to get better and build on that."

Hall made it 3-1 at 12:41 of the third period, scoring on the rebound of a Pastrnak one-timer during a delayed penalty.
Tomas Nosek scored 19 seconds later to push it to 4-1, tapping in the rebound of a point shot by Derek Forbort at 13:00.
"We're playing good teams," Bergeron said. "If you let them hang around, you know, they're going to find a way and then that's when trouble starts, right? So, I think when you're able to get that next goal, the extra goal, that's when you kind of get that momentum or you take the wind out of their sails."
Laine scored on a one-timer from the top of the left circle at 14:29 on a power play for the 4-2 final.
Columbus, which entered Saturday last in the NHL on the power play (13.9 percent), went 2-for-5 with the man-advantage.
"It was great to get those couple goals," Laine said. "But when they score four, two's not gonna cut it. So, just got to kind of regroup and take the positives from this game and then move on."
Swayman narrowly missed an empty-net goal at 18:59.
"I want to score so bad, man," Swayman said. "It'll happen."
NOTES: Bergeron was honored before the game for his 1,000th NHL point, an assist, in a 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 21. Massachusetts Governor and incoming NCAA president Charlie Baker presented Bergeron with a proclamation declaring Dec. 17, 2022, "Patrice Bergeron Day" in Massachusetts. ... Pastrnak has 20 goals for the seventh consecutive season, tying Peter McNab and Bobby Orr for the sixth-longest streak in Bruins history. It is the third time in his career he has reached the mark in 30 games or fewer (22 games in 2019-20; 28 games in 2018-19) … Gaudreau has 33 points (10 goals, 23 assists), the second-most through the first 30 games of a season in Blue Jackets history, trailing Cam Atkinson (34, 2018-19) and Artemi Panarin (34, 2018-19).