Columbus has been winning playoff hockey games by controlling the play and shutting down the opponents stars. Their forecheck has been relentless, they check, created turnovers, forced teams into ill-advised penalties and most importantly cash in on their opportunities. Superior goaltending has also helped.
Boston flipped the script on the Jackets last night, showing that they could also execute that game plan. Boston owned special teams play in Game 4. They scored on 2-of-6 power plays while the Jackets went 0-for-4. All the special teams created a disjointed game in which the CBJ never seemed to get things going.
BOS didn't play a perfect game. Marchand did his best to give the Jackets all the opportunities they needed to climb back into the game. He tripped Boone on a SH breakaway, cleared a puck over the boards (delay of game) and tripped Cam late in the 2nd. With only a one-goal lead BOS was able to deny CBJ a goal in each of this opportunities.
Rask Dominating
Let's get something straight, if it were not for the play of Bobrovsky, everyone would be tripping over their superlatives to describe Rask's performances. Last night he shined once again. He and the BOS d-corp limited the Jackets to one questionable goal. Rask has only given up 8 goals on 137 shot across 4 games.
Has Boston solved Bob? They put up 4 goals but, Bob once again had highlight reel saves, kept the CBJ close and on top of that stopped 42 shots. Rather than solving Bob, I think the Bruins have begun to see and take advantage of the lack of dept on the Jackets blue line. It was only a matter of time before the bottom pair + was exposed by a talented top line of BOS.
The Positive
With the series leveled at 2 games a piece the series shifts back to Boston on Saturday and for 2 of the last 3. The Union Blue needs two wins to advance(as does BOS), Saturday's game is as big as they come. Columbus has thrived on the road during the regular season and in the playoffs (3-1 on the road in the playoffs).
Boone Jenner has come alive. I counted no less than 3 SH opportunities including being awarded a penalty shot. Opportunities are one thing, burying those opportunities is another.
Panarin has stayed hot, scoring the CBJs only goal. It was questionable as the puck seemed to hit the netting, but not a single player on the ice noticed or stopped playing. I would argue it didn't change the outcome of that play and neither did the on-ice players based on their reaction. Should it have been whistled, probably.
You learn more from a loss than you do from a win. Hopefully the Jackets learn quite a bit from what happened in Game 4 and can quickly apply those lessons to Game 5 and come away from BOS with a victory.
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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