Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron Lead Bruins To 4-1 Win To Tie Series With Blue Jackets
BOSTON (CBS) -- The second-round playoff series between the Bruins and Blue Jackets has been a tremendously spirited and competitive affair. And it's only now just getting good.
With a 4-1 win in Game 4 in Columbus on Thursday night, the Bruins knotted up the series at two games apiece. It's now a best-of-three series, with Boston owning home-ice advantage. Winner heads to the conference finals.
Tuukka Rask made 39 saves in the win.
Sean Kuraly scored a goal 8:40 into the third period to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead. Kuraly was in the right place at the right time, standing in front of the net after a point shot from Zdeno Chara deflected off the end boards. Bobrovsky tried to poke-check the puck out of danger but ended up directing it straight to Kuraly, who scored from close range to give the Bruins some much-needed breathing room.
Veteran forward David Backes, inserted back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for six postseason games, recorded a secondary assist for cycling the puck back to the point prior to that goal.
Patrice Bergeron made it a 4-1 lead with 2:30 left in regulation when he buried a rebound off a David Pastrnak one-timer, a goal that officially put the game out of reach for the home team.
The scoring opened with Pastrnak breaking out of a slump with a one-time goal just 3:33 into the game. The goal came just moments after Pastrnak had been the recipient of a heavy hit at his own blue line.
Bergeron made it a 2-0 lead when he scored on a power play at the 7:18 mark of the first period.
That goal came after Tuukka Rask had to turn away a penalty shot from Boone Jenner, after the Blue Jackets power forward broke out on a shorthanded breakaway past Brad Marchand.
The Blue Jackets cut the Boston lead in half later in the first period with a controversial goal. The puck had actually deflected off the protective netting behind the Bruins' goal, but no on-ice officials noticed. So play went on, and Oliver Bjorkstrand found a wide-open Artemi Panarin, who scored his third goal of the series.
Game 5 will be played Saturday in Boston at 7:15 p.m.
