Bruins bully Bobrovsky in win over Blue Jackets
BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins scored four goals in a span of 4:01 in the first period and cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night.
Trailing 1-0, defenseman Torey Krug, Matt Beleskey, Austin Czarnik and Tim Schaller all scored, knocking Sergei Bobrovsky from the net. David Backes scored in the second period.
Beleskey, Czarnik and Backes all also had an assist and David Krejci had two as Boston raised its record to 8-6-0. Krug and Beleskey both scored their first goals of the season.
Tuukka Rask, beaten early by a Nick Foligno goal, stopped just 15 shots (two saves in the third period) and raised his season record to 8-1. He allowed a goal with 11:20 left in the game when the Bruins won a defensive zone faceoff and defenseman Colin Miller had the puck roll off his stick, by Rask and into the net -- the goal credited to Sam Gagner, his fourth of the season.
Bobrovsky, who was given little help and gave up four goals on nine shots, fell to 0-4-2 lifetime against the Bruins. Curtis McElhinney relieved and made 22 saves on 23 shots.
Boston has beaten Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets (6-4-2) twice this season, scoring 11 goals in the two games. They have 26 goals in their other 12 games.
The Blue Jackets took advantage of a Zdeno Chara giveaway to take the lead 2:29 into the game. Chara's clearing attempt was stopped by Alexander Wennberg, who got the puck to Foligno. The Columbus captain snapped a wrist shot by Rask for his fifth goal of the season.
Then came the Boston onslaught, with Krug scoring on a slapper at 8:27, Beleskey scoring from the slot at 9:55, Czarnik finishing off a Riley Nash pass at 12:25 and Schaller scoring 24 seconds later.
Play continued after Schaller scored and play was halted by a siren meaning Toronto buzzed in. Upon review, the goal was counted and given to Jimmy Hayes, even though the replay showed it was Schaller's second goal. The scoring was changed after the period.
Krejci then picked up his second assist of the night by setting Backes up for his third goal as a Bruin -- all against Columbus -- at 11:51 of the second.
NOTES: The Bruins announced RW Noel Acciari will miss approximately four weeks with a lower-body injury. He missed his second straight game Thursday night. ... Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky missed his second straight game because of a lower-body injury. ... Columbus LW Nick Foligno visited Boston Children's Hospital Thursday, and Dr. Wayne Tworetzky, the pediatric cardiologist who treated Foligno's newborn daughter for a congenital heart defect, was Foligno's guest at the game. He presented a check for $500,000 from him and his wife to the hospital. Said Foligno: "Boston has a little piece of my heart for the way they treated my daughter and family. But I still want to beat the Bruins" ... Several Bruins players bought tickets for military personnel on Military Appreciation night -- the team wearing camouflage jerseys in practice that will be auctioned out. ... The Blue Jackets open a three-game homestand against the St. Louis Blues Saturday -- Columbus with four straight home wins since losing to Boston on opening night. ... The Bruins, finishing five games in seven nights, are at Arizona and Colorado over the weekend -- and then visit Minnesota Nov. 17.