FINAL SCORE: Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 3
IN BRIEF: There were six goals scored in the third period, and David Pastrnak's late score gave the Bruins a win in a wild Game 5 at TD Garden.
HIGHLIGHTS:
KREJCI GETS THE B'S ON THE BOARD AFTER SCORELESS FIRST
BOBROVSKY AND RASK TRADING BIG SAVES
MARCHAND MAKES IT 2-0 BRUINS
COLUMBUS GETS ON THE BOARD
PASTRNAK ANSWERS WITH A GOAL OF HIS OWN
BLUE JACKETS ANSWER PASTA
COLUMBUS TIES IT 3-3
PASTRNAK GIVES B'S A LATE 4-3 LEAD
RASK SAVES THE GAME
FROM JOE HAGGERTY:
What a battle of goaltenders between Sergei Bobrovsky and Tuukka Rask. The Bruins No. 1 netminder is stopping everything in his path and Bobrovsky looks like a Russian bear dancing around in the crease making acrobatic saves at every turn against a Bruins team peppering him with shots. Both goalies have been excellent in the series and they’ve brought their very best in this pivotal Game 5 in the series. Rask made stops on Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno toward the end of the second period that were as good as it gets in a one-goal game. The only goal scored by the Bruins through the first couple of periods was a transition play where David Krejci shot a bit of a change-up at the net that it looked like Bobrovsky wasn’t expecting.
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David Backes turned the puck over from Artemi Panarin at the defensive blue line and then kick-started a transition play that ended with David Krejci scoring the game’s only goal thus far. Once again Backes is making an impact for the Bruins for the second straight game, and is rewarding Bruce Cassidy for penciling his name into the lineup. An assist, a plus-1 rating and three hits in nine-plus minutes of ice time for the big power forward, who is being put out there in spots where he can really have some jump and energy for the Bruins. He’s been effective being used that way.
Torey Krug with seven shot attempts and three hits in 16 plus minutes of ice time through the first two periods. He’s clearly taking the action to the Blue Jackets and doing his part to make sure the Bruins are awake here in an extremely important Game 5 against Columbus. Krug has also been playing a pretty feisty brand of defense in his own end as well, and is bringing the kind of “A” game that can help him be a difference-maker for the Bruins.
An amazing third period finally gives way to a 4-3 win for the Boston Bruins as David Pastrnak scored his second goal of the game, and the game-winner, when he redirected a Brad Marchand cross-ice pass past Sergei Bobrovsky. Pastrnak finished with two goals, a plus-3 rating, seven shots on net and 19 shot attempts in 17 plus minutes of ice time. He also had a couple of great goal celebrations with his hands to his ears Hulk Hogan style in the second period, and then he dropped to a knee and glided across the ice for the second one. Pastrnak has looked out-of-sync and injured through most of these playoffs, but he’s now got three goals in the last two games and has come alive offensively. It couldn’t have come at a better time in a highly entertaining Game 5 win for the Bruins.
UP NEXT:
Game 6: Monday, @Columbus, 7 p.m., NBCS
*Game 7: Wednesday, May 8: @TD Garden, TBD
*if necessary
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