BOSTON (AP) — Mathieu Olivier scored short-handed in a three-goal first period that ended with the Boston fans booing their own team off the ice, and the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Bruins 5-1 on Monday night. Justin Danforth also scored a short-handed goal, making it 4-1 midway through the third period. Yegor Chinakhov made it 5-1 with about six minutes left, bringing out more boos and sending most of the remaining fans to the exits.
James van Riemsdyk and Dmitri Voronkov also scored for Columbus, and Elvis Merzļikins stopped 29 shots. Charlie Coyle scored Boston’s only goal, and Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves as the Bruins lost their third straight game. Blue Jackets: Won for just the second time in nine games thanks to some balanced scoring and the two short-handed goals.
Van Riemsdyk might be exactly the veteran pickup they needed. Bruins: The performance against one of the NHL's bottom teams is going to heighten calls for Boston management to fire coach Jim Montgomery. Early in the first period, Merzļikins lost his stick and it slid all the way into the corner.
But Boston wasn't able to test the disarmed goalie; instead, Dante Fabbro sent the puck ahead and out of the zone to Sean Monahan, who found Voronkov cutting down the middle and splitting two defensemen. Voronkov backhanded the puck past Swayman as Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo desperately swiped at the puck from behind and then crashed into the goal, knocking it off its moorings a split seco.