Bruins' youth too much for lifeless Blue Jackets
BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins' youth was too much for the Columbus Blue Jackets to handle on Monday night.
Three rookies played key roles, as Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk both had a goal and two assists and Charlie McAvoy recorded a Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal, assist and fight, helping the Bruins to a 7-2 rout of the lifeless Columbus Blue Jackets.
Heinen has four goals and nine points in the last seven games.
Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Backes added a goal and an assist, each, and Torey Krug also scored for the Bruins, who snapped a two-game losing streak and finished 1-1-1 on a three-game homestand.
The Bruins scored four goals in a 6:20 span in the third period to reach a season high for goals and take command of the game.
Heinen, Krug, Bergeron (one assist) and DeBrusk scored late to complete the one-sided game. David Pastrnak assisted on the final goal, extending his points streak to a career-high 12 games and Ryan Spooner had two late assists.
Tuukka Rask was bidding for his second shutout of the season, but Josh Anderson converted a pass from Alexander Wennberg and snapped the shutout 8:32 into the third period. Seth Jones made it 7-2 late.
Rask, who is 6-0-1 in his last seven starts, made just 16 saves.
Sergei Bobrovsky, making his eighth straight start, made 38 saves and got little help from his teammates, falling to 2-5-2 lifetime against the Bruins (16-10-5).
Marchand took a pass from Bergeron and scored his 14th goal of the season, extending his career-high points streak to nine straight games.
The Blue Jackets fell to 20-13-1 with their second straight and third loss in their last four games.
NOTES: Columbus has allowed five power-play goals in the last four games. ... Bruins C David Krejci was a surprise no-show for warmups, then was declared out with an upper-body injury and will not travel to Buffalo for Tuesday night's game -- his 13th and 14th games missed this season because of what started as an upper back problem resulting from a slash. ... Boston D Adam McQuaid, out since Oct. 19 with a broken leg, is close to a return, which may come Tuesday night in Buffalo, when the Bruins will start Anton Khudobin in goal. He is 3-1-2 lifetime against the Sabres. ... The Blue Jackets host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.