James van Riemsdyk scored the game-winning goal in the second period and assisted on a pair of insurance markers in the third as the Boston Bruins beat the host Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Tuesday night.
van Riemsdyk posted his first three-point game of the season for the Bruins, who took 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the middle frame before a two-goal third helped them cruise to a fourth straight win since the NHL’s holiday break concluded last week.
Boston’s Kevin Shattenkirk, Danton Heinen and Trent Frederic also scored.
Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark made 26 saves for the win.
Kent Johnson scored the lone goal and Spencer Martin finished with 23 stops for Columbus, which had been on a three-game point streak (1-0-2).
Following a scoreless first period, Boston had a 13-3 shots advantage in the second.
Boston jumped in front at 2:12 of the middle frame. Shattenkirk picked up the carom of Matt Grzelcyk’s point shot and beat Martin with a snipe from along the right wall that floated through traffic in front.
At 4:06, Johnson leveled the score after tracking a loose puck and firing a snap shot from the slot. Johnson helped start the play off a rush with Ivan Provorov and Dmitri Voronkov.
After an 0-for-2 start on the power play, Boston converted in the waning seconds of its third try and regained the lead at 13:07 of the second. van Riemsdyk followed Jake DeBrusk with the ultimate deflection on Hampus Lindholm’s point shot.
Heinen upped the Bruins’ lead to 3-1 with 12:31 remaining in regulation, corralling the rebound of van Riemsdyk’s shot off Martin’s pad and tucking it off the crossbar and in from the right crease.
With 4:06 left, van Riemsdyk picked up the puck at center ice, strode into the zone and fed a cross-ice pass to Frederic to finish from the right side.
Boston defenseman Mason Lohrei required medical attention during the second period after being hit in the mouth by a puck. He returned to the ice for the third.
–Field Level Media
