After playing last night in Columbus, the Blue Jackets and Bruins flew back to Boston for a rematch tonight. This time, however, the Bruins would have starter Jeremy Swayman back in net, while the Jackets would start Daniil Tarasov for the first time since December 5.
It went as you would expect.
First Period
Both teams were understandably slower, but the Jackets had the edge in possession early.
The Bruins broke the scoreless tie on their first real chance. On a rebound, Damon Severson was shielding Tarasov from seeing the puck, and an attempt by Mikael Pyyhtia to sweep the puck away behind Tarasov failed.
On the ensuing faceoff, Mathieu Olivier and Mark Kastelic dropped the gloves. Kastelic landed more punches but Olivier took him to the ice with better leverage. Call this one a split decision.
The chippiness would continue throughout the game. Later in the first, Brad Marchand bowled into Tarasov but was not called for interference. He had been hooked first by Dmitri Voronkov, who took the only penalty on the play. Fortunately the penalty kill stepped up, especially on zone entries.
In the far corner of the Bruin’s zone, Kirill Marchenko hit Marchand along the boards. As he did, his shoulder clipped Marchand’s chin. The refs didn’t see it and there was no penalty called, but Marchand went after Marchenko later in the shift. There would be some additional exchanges of words and shoves throughout the night but nothing more than that. I get why Marchand would be upset, but I think it was a fair no-call. Marchenko was going for the puck and the contact was incidental.
Sean Kuraly had a golden breakaway opportunity late in the period but the shot went wide.
Second Period
A similar play happened for Marchenko early in the second, but at least this one led to an extended offensive zone possession.
Boston doubled their lead off of a really ugly play by Severson. He was challenged along the wall and could have sent the puck forward along the wall to Voronkov. Instead, he flipped a no look pass towards Adam Fantilli in the middle of the zone. Fantilli wasn’t expecting it and it was off the mark. It went to Morgan Geekie instead, who was able to score from the slot.
This is the same Severson who was a healthy scratch on Monday. Clearly Dean Evason was not happy with this play, as Severson did not have another shift in the period. He did return for five shifts in the third period, however.
Less than two minutes after that goal, the Jackets gave up another goal off a turnover. This time they were in the offensive zone, and a Dante Fabbro pass deflected off of Zach Werenski’s skates. David Pastrnak got a breakaway, and I knew right away that a player like that would score in such an opportunity.
The Jackets were gifted a great chance to get back into the game after Kastelic high sticked Kuraly and drew blood. The first minute was wasted with the first unit struggling to maintain possession. The second unit – which we haven’t seen much of since the top unit has been so productive lately – didn’t do much either. In four minutes, the Jackets created just two shot attempts, and only one on net. The Bruins had two shorthanded shots on goal in that same span.
Third Period
The Bruins didn’t need another insurance goal, but they got one after another gift of a turnover. Denton Mateychuk left a pass for Provorov at the blue line, but Provorov wasn’t ready for it and skated away. Cole Koepke scooped it up and made it down ice. Provorov chose to cover the pass but Tarasov wasn’t able to save the shot over his stick side shoulder.
Olivier got into another fight after a big hit on Charlie McAvoy. It appears to be clean (hit him on the side, not the numbers, and did it as he released the puck) but I get why the Bruins would take exception on behalf of one of their team leaders. Nikita Zadorov charged Olivier and got an additional roughing penalty for it.
Any chance to get some momentum back was erased when Werenski hauled down Marchand in front of the net on a shorthanded chance, erasing the final 56 seconds of the power play. There weren’t many other opportunities for the rest of the game.
Final Thoughts
Ok, maybe that’s an overstatement. It was a mostly even possession game but Boston converted their chances and Columbus did not. One telling stat: the Jackets had 37 unblocked shot attempts in all situations, but only 18 of them were on net. That’s way too many missed shots, and reminds me of what contributed to their previous losing streaks this season.
On one hand, you feel for Daniil Tarasov having to come in after not seeing game action in over three weeks. On the other hand, it’s clear that his coach and his teammates don’t trust him, and he didn’t do anything tonight to earn that trust back. He is clearly the third worst Jackets goalie this season, and it’s not close. If there’s any hope of him finding his game again, he needs to play regularly. For that to happen, he needs to play for the Cleveland Monsters. This would require him clearing waivers, but I don’t think there’s much risk of another team claiming him.
Up Next
Another homestand begins on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. Note: that’s an 8:00 PM EST start at Nationwide, with the usual New Year’s Eve festivities to follow.