Bruins win 7th straight, beat Columbus in shootout

Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask blocks a shot by Columbus Blue Jackets center Antoine Vermette during the shootout of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. The Bruins beat the Blue Jackets 2-1. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The Bruins were lucky to get two points out of Thursday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets as they did not look like they were into the game much and played really sloppy. But Tuukka Rask was the Bruins best player and played great to keep the Bruins in the game and eventually won it in the shootout. Andrew Ference returned to the Bruins lineup as Johnny Boychuk was scratched due to having flu-like symptoms. Daniel Paille also returned to the Bruins lineup, wearing a full cage, as Jordan Caron was the healthy scratch.

Here's the scoring summary.

In the first period, no scoring happened.

In the second period, Derek MacKenzie scored a power-play goal to give Columbus a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Adam McQuaid scored his 1st goal of the season to tie the game. In the period, Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves with Jared Boll and they had a good spirited bout. I would give it a draw. Thornton looked to have some red marks on his face after the fight. Thornton also looked really pissed off after the fight as if Boll broke the code in some way, maybe a late punch or something, but I didn't see anything unusual when watching. I'll have to take another look at it.

Update: Joe Haggerty via Twitter says "Shawn Thornton told me Jared Boll popped him twice with punches after the refs tried to break things up. That's what set him off afterward" Source

In the third period, no scoring happened. Benoit Pouliot did take a dumb roughing penalty in the period.

In overtime, both teams had a power-play but no one scored.

In the shootout, Tyler Seguin didn't score, Rick Nash didn't score, Rich Peverley scored, Mark Letestu scored, David Krejci scored and Antoine Vermette didn't score. Bruins win 2-1.

Game notes
The Blue Jackets led the game in shots 31-27, faceoff wins 30-24, hits 22-17 and blocked shots 18-13.

Tuukka Rask made 30 saves on 31 shots and is now 3-3 with a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 10-7 with 20 points and 4th in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Saturday at the New York Islanders at 7pm ET.