Columbus Blue Jackets @ Boston Bruins: Season 25 2/26/26

Welcome back from the Olympic break, 5th Line! Tonight, during the second commercial break, the Boston Bruins honored their players and ours who played in the 2026 Winter Olympics. It was a nice touch of sportsmanship that I had to include in this blog post. 

When the puck dropped for Period 1, we'd see a contest between a current Columbus Blue Jacket goaltender and a former Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender. Elvis Merzlikins would hold our net, while Joonas Korpisalo would hold the home net for the Bruins. Kirill Marchenko would be the first player to get a puck past either of them, giving the Blue Jackets an early 1-0 road lead. The breakaway goal, at 4:32, would advance Kirill Marchenko into a club that only Zach Werenski was part of to this point; twenty goals this season! The primary assist would become Mason Marchment's fourteenth this season, while the secondary assist would bring Adam Fantilli to a twenty-fourth this season. But, after several solid stops, Viktor Arvidsson would score his fifteenth goal this season, tying us at 1-1, at 15:51. J Aspirot would have the only assist on the Bruins' first goal tonight, and it would become his sixth this season. Each team would have a power play in the opening period, and neither would convert, leaving us tied at 1-1.  The shots on goal would see the Blue Jackets double up the Bruins, 20-10. 

Period 2 would have one goal. The ice would tilt in favor of the Bruins after Miles Wood was sent to the penalty box for two minutes following a collision with Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo. Concussion spotters observing the game would pull Joonas Korpisalo from the game for evaluation, and their backup, Michael DiPietro, would go into the game cold. I know he's the opposition, but you have to give credit where it is due, and Michael DiPietro was impressive. He faced two shots on goal from our Blue Jackets in 6:03 before Joonas Korpisalo was cleared to return to play, and he stopped them both. Now, unfortunately for us, Miles Wood went to the penalty box at 6:13, and the Bruins would take their first lead of the night just seconds later at 6:54. This goal would be the thirty-third this season for Morgan Geekie. David Pastrnak gets assist number fifty of his season on the primary, while Elias Lindholm adds his twenty-seventh on the secondary. The Blue Jackets would lead shots on goal again, but this time by only 1, 9-8. The Bruins would lead on the scoreboard, though, 2-1, ahead of the final regulation period. 

The Blue Jackets would push for a tying goal, but before it could be found, a former Bruin, turned Blue Jacket, turned Bruin again would extend the lead for his home team. Sean Kuraly would get his fifth goal this season at 11:15, and the only assist on it would be the fifteenth this season for Tanner Jeannet. The Blue Jackets wouldn't stop pushing with a little over nine minutes left, and it would pay off at 13:45 as Adam Fantilli scored his fourteenth goal this season! Mason Marchment gets his second assist tonight, his fifteenth this season, on the primary. Zach Werenski, our Olympic gold medalist, gets his forty-third assist this season on the secondary, giving him sixty-three points so far this season. Wow. With roughly two minutes to play, we would bring Elvis Merzlikins to the bench for an extra Blue Jacket on the ice. The Bruins would miss the open net twice, but Joonas Korpisalo would maintain the brick wall he'd put up against his former team all night. Then, at 19:27, Viktor Arvidsson adds his second goal of the night, his sixteenth this season, solidifying the win. Charlie McAvoy has the only assist on the final goal of the game, giving him thirty-six this year. The Bruins snapped the Blue Jackets sven-game win-streak created before the Olympic break, winning 4-2. The final period's shots on goal battle was also won by the Blue Jackets, 40-23.

The Third Star of the Game, with a goal and an assist tonight, Blue Jackets' Adam Fantilli. 

The Second Star of the Game, with the Bruins' first and the last goals tonight, Viktor Arvidsson.  

The First Star of the Game, without question, Joonas Korpisalo. He earned a .947 save percentage after stopping 36 of the Blue Jackets' 38 shots.    

The Blue Jackets will play their first home game after the Olympic break on Saturday night. Please note that the game will start at 6:00 p.m. as we host the New York Islanders. Tonight, the Islanders won in overtime, topping the Montreal Canadians 4-3 in overtime. They keep their third divisional spot with that win, six points ahead of us. So, winning Saturday night is vital as we could take two points from them and gain two points on them in one game.  I'm confident this team can do it. 

Go CBJ! 

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