Jake Debrusk had two goals and an assist, and Brad Marchand hit the 100 point mark for the season as the Boston Bruins routed the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The win and a 4-1 loss by Toronto to Carolina clinches the home ice advantage for Boston when they face the Maple Leafs in the first round of the NHL playoffs starting next week.
Boston (48-23-9) scored two goals in each period in ending a two game losing streak. The Bruins had made it 5-0 in the third period, before Columbus was able to get on the board with two straight goals. Debrusk led the way with his two goals and now has 27 on the season. Marcus Johansson, Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Karson Kuhlman had the other Boston tallies on the night. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Matt Duchene scored for the 45-31-4 Blue Jackets. Columbus with a win and a Montreal loss would of clinched a playoff spot, but still stay one point ahead of Carolina for the first spot in the Eastern Conference playoff wildcard race. Marchand and Kuhlman also added an assist for two point nights, and David Krejci had two assists. Marchand now has 36 goals and 64 assists to reach the 100 point plateau, becoming the fifth NHL player to reach at least 100 points this season. He also is just the 10th player in Bruins history to reach 100 points. Tuuka Rask made 32 saves on 34 shots for the win. Sergei Bobrovsky played the first two periods and took the loss, allowing four goals on 23 shots. Boston was 0-1 on the powerplay, while both Columbus goals came with an extra man as they went 2-4.
The Bruins are down to just two games left in the regular season, as they travel to Minnesota to battle the Wild Thursday night at 8 pm, before hosting Tampa Bay Saturday at 1 pm Saturday in the finale. Neither #2 in East Boston or #3 Toronto can move up or down in standings, as the matchup is locked in for the first round playoff matchup. The Bruins won three of four of the meetings in the regular season.
