Charlie Coyle tied the game in the third period and then won it in overtime on Thursday night, as the Boston Bruins topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 in game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden in Boston.
Noel Acciari started Boston off on the right foot scoring a shorthanded goal in the first period. His shot from the right faceoff circle beat Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to the far post at 10:34. That lead would stand up for the hosts until the third period. After a Coyle turnover, Brandon Duninsky tied it at 7:39 of the third for the Blue Jackets by deflecting a Seth Jones shot from the slot. Just 13 seconds later, Columbus took the lead when Pierre-Luc Dubois scored to make it 2-1 that went in off his leg off a shot from Artemi Panarin.
Coyle though would tie the game with 4:35 remaining to send it to overtime. In overtime at 5:15 he tipped a pass from Marcus Johansson at the right post past Bobrovsky to end it. The loss was the first of the playoffs for the Blue Jackets.
Coyle and Johansson had two point nights for Boston, with Coyles two big goals and Johansson adding two assists. Jones had two assists for the Blue Jackets. Both teams went 0-4 on the powerplay. Tuuka Rask made 20 saves in the win, while Bobrovsky kept Columbus in the game with 34 saves on the night. Game two is Saturday night at 8 pm.
