Game 46: One Last Time

Ugh. We finally have hit a bump in the road.

Just when things were going so well for the Boston Bruins, the momentum may have been obliterated on Friday afternoon. The league announced that Brad Marchand will be suspended two games for slew-footing Derick Brassard of the New York Rangers on Thursday night. 

It's unfortunate because the B's were clicking on all cylinders and were quickly become one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference. With that being said, the reputation of Marchand did them in here. He has to pay with the suspension. 

Daniel Paille will be inserted into the second line, left-winger role for the next couple of games. The B's needed to put this behind them and focus on potentially winning six-straight games. 

They closed out the week at home on Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The two teams have split the season series thus far, but Columbus embarrassed the Bruins during the last meeting--a 6-2 loss in Columbus for Boston back in December. It definitely goes without saying that this is a completely different team presently. Even though the Blue Jackets are struggling this year, the final matchup of the season was up for grabs on this night. 

Not much more detail needed here. It is time to get to the game. 

Boston was dominant for the entire 60 minutes, but it was Columbus that cashed in on some lucky bounces of the puck. Naturally, the Blue Jackets scored on the power play; They are the fourth best team in the NHL with the man advantage. Carl Soderberg tied the game some minutes later, and that score remained the same until late in the third period.

From there, the Jackets popped in two late goals (one being an empty netter), both by Matt Calvert. Columbus has been decimated by injuries and have not shown its full capabilities with a below-average point total, yet they knew how to play the Bruins when they needed to. The Blue Jackets play aggressive in every aspect of the game which translated to a 3-1 victory, snapping the B's winning streak. 

The Bruins will hit the road next week for a back-to-back set before the All-Star weekend. 

Gold Star: Tuukka Rask...He did allow two goals, but the 28 shots he did stop were huge at the time. He kept the Bruins in it the entire game. 

Black Star: Dougie Hamilton...Right from the opening whistle, he was not on his game. He took a couple of minor penalties early and was sloppy with the puck. All in all, a rare bad game for the young blue liner.

Game Forty-Six Box Score

Details on Marchand's Suspension