COLUMBUS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Columbus Blue Jackets will look to stay hot and complete a three-game season-series sweep when they visit Boston to contest the second half of a home-and-home pair against the Bruins on Saturday.
The Blue Jackets earned a 6-2 home-ice victory over the Bruins on Friday, giving them back-to-back wins and a four-game point streak (3-0-1). They have dominated the Bruins by an 11-3 combined score over the first two meetings.
“I think we were excited to get back to play after the break,” Columbus forward Sean Monahan said, referring to the team’s three-day Christmas hiatus. “Guys were moving the puck well, and we were finding the back of the net. We’ve got to keep that up and be consistent with that.”
That consistency starts with putting together another strong effort in the rematch after four Blue Jackets had multiple points and a four-goal second period marked the difference on Friday.
With a one-goal, two-assist performance, Kirill Marchenko upped his point streak to seven games (four goals, nine assists). The 24-year-old has been strong on a line with Dmitri Voronkov and Monahan, who both scored twice.
“They’re the line that drives our team,” defenseman Zach Werenski said after dishing out four assists.
The Blue Jackets already have tasted success in Boston with a 5-1 win back on Nov. 18. The next morning, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery was fired and replaced with interim coach Joe Sacco, who has gone 11-5-1 behind the bench.
Columbus is just 4-11-3 on the road as compared to 11-4-3 at home.
“We have to be better on the road if we’re going to get to where we want to go,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “(Friday’s) game has to roll into (Saturday).”
Boston is on a five-game home winning streak.
The Bruins’ best run of play this season — a five-game point streak (4-0-1) following blowout losses in Winnipeg and Seattle earlier this month — was snapped with the Friday loss.
On the plus side for Boston, Charlie Coyle scored for the third straight game and captain Brad Marchand recorded an assist to move his point streak to 11 games (seven goals, seven assists).
Despite success on the whole under Sacco, the Bruins are again showing their up-and-down tendencies.
The loss immediately followed a complete effort in 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Monday, when Boston allowed only 11 shots on goal.
“I thought Columbus … deserved what they got (on Friday). They were the better team,” Sacco said. “So, the three-day break didn’t have as much toll on them as it did on us. We just have to be better, all of us.”
The Bruins have struggled mightily on the penalty kill of late, going just 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) across the past nine games. Boston killed off 71.4 percent of opponents’ power plays this season before the current slump.
Prior to a 3-for-3 night on Friday, the Blue Jackets’ power play had not scored more than once in a game all season.
Boston’s second-period downfall was also the result of losing battles.
“You can’t win many games when you’re being outworked like that,” Coyle said. “That’s embarrassing.”
Finding a quick response back on home ice will be key for the Bruins.
“We didn’t play up to our standards (on Friday). I certainly didn’t play up to mine,” Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. “The best part of this league is you get to turn a new leaf every single day. So, we’re going to leave this one here and we get a chance to get it right (Saturday).”
Prior to this season, the Bruins had lost just once in their previous nine head-to-head meetings with the Blue Jackets.
–Field Level Media