“It kind of reminds you of the intensity of the playoffs,” DeBrusk said. “Give them credit. They are a proud team there. They have some guys who would react the same way we did.”
The sequence began when Linus Ullmark finished off Zach Werenski’s shot to the flanks. Peeke chased after him, unaware that Marchand was chasing him at the same time.
When Peeke opened up to try to move the puck, Marchand unloaded on him. The puck was on Peeke’s stick. Marchand’s punch did more than loosen him. He stopped everyone on the ice.
Charlie McAvoy retrieved the puck and immediately fired it at DeBrusk.
“I heard the bang,” DeBrusk said. “Obviously I saw where the puck went after that and I saw that Charlie had it and it was going around. To be honest with you, he was on the blue line at the time, so he was thinking of escaping me.”
DeBrusk was so outspoken that he raised his baton in the air. But beating Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins (34 saves) one-on-one was almost an afterthought.
“Honestly, after I scored, I looked over and he was still in the corner,” DeBrusk said. “I’ve never really seen that from anyone. . . But it was as if time had stopped. I didn’t know if a whistle would blow or if something was going to happen, but you’re still playing and I was happy to bury that. I had three breakaways with this guy and I haven’t scored one.”
Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voracek was furious and received a 10-minute misconduct penalty after an angry exchange with officials.
“We understood going into the second period that, well, they might attack some of our guys, so we’re going to defend each other, especially our best players,” DeBrusk said. “I thought overall the game didn’t get too out of control by any means. I think there were some heavy hitting on both sides and some scrums, but it increased the intensity. It was a fun game to play, and I think it brings you closer together as a team.”
The Bruins sent Josh Brown to the ice looking for muscle, knowing Columbus would be out for revenge. When play resumed, Oliver Bjorkstrand had Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron in his crosshairs, checking him out on the boards and then drawing him even moments later.
Columbus continued to seek reprisals. Taylor Hall took a stick to the face in the second half from defender Vladislav Gavrikov.
But the Bruins took the lead at the 7:52 mark in the second. Craig Smith was quick to recover a puck behind the net and in the Bruins’ offensive zone. He was rewarded when Charlie Coyle found him in the middle. Smith shot from the slot and scored his
Peeke returned in the second period and was soon looking for Marchand.
He got his chance when Marchand ran into the net after a DeBrusk tee shot.
Merzlikins had a frozen puck, so Marchand couldn’t make a play. Cole Sillinger grabbed Marchand to make sure nothing else happened, but that gave Peeke a chance to lunge in and hit Marchand from behind with a right hand.
DeBrusk jumped in the middle of the fight before it escalated, keeping Marchand out of the fray.
“It’s instinctual,” DeBrusk said. “I understood that there will probably be some kind of reaction from Marsh and he is the best player on our team and I am playing with him. There was a scrum afterwards, I saw they pushed him and we don’t accept that here.”
DeBrusk has scored in five straight games, but Cassidy said replacing Marchand is something teammates will notice.
“That’s very useful, more than the goal,” Cassidy said. “I mean, trust me, we want the overtime goal. Do not misunderstand. But in terms of what you’re doing for your team, and the team building aspect and defending your teammate, the guys don’t ignore it.”
But Marchand still went to the penalty box along with Peeke for matching the roughness penalties.
Columbus showed its discomfort on Saturday, taking a tied third-quarter game against the Bruins.
They put the Bruins on their heels early Monday morning, jumping out to a 1-0 lead on Emil Bemstrom’s fifth goal of the season. Matt Grzelcyk couldn’t control the puck down the center line and Bemstrom won a race with Brandon Carlo to get to it. Bemstrom maneuvered for Carlo and then made 5 holes at Ullmark to give Columbus the lead at the 4:31 mark.
The Blue Jackets tied it, 2-2, with 15.2 seconds remaining in the second when Werenski fired a shot from the left circle that whizzed over Ullmark’s left shoulder. Officials reviewed the play to see if Gavrikov used a tall pole to keep the puck in the Blue Jackets’ offensive zone, but determined that he had not.
Once again, a goal in the last minute of a period put the Bruins in a precarious situation. Of the 181 goals the Bruins allowed before the night, 20 of them were scored in the last minute of a period. It was just the fourth time he had conceded a goal in the last minute of the second half. They have allowed 10 in the last minute of the third.
“If there are that many of them, then clearly each case is probably a little bit different, but overall, there’s just a lack of urgency at the end of the periods to close the door,” Cassidy said.
Despite this, the Bruins improved to 17-3-1 in their last 21 games.
“When you win that often, you obviously have the ability to find ways to win and the ability to get out of trouble quickly,” Cassidy said. “We certainly weren’t ready tonight. . . We get back to our game pretty quickly.”
With 93 points, they are tied with Tampa in the division.
“We know we’re in a battle,” Cassidy said. “I could finish fourth, I could finish as high as second. The way Florida is going, it doesn’t look like anyone is catching them. So we know we’re in the mix somewhere.
“We’ve done a good job of taking care of business here. When you get to the dog days of late February, March, we’ve done our part of winning,” Cassidy added. “So we’ve parted ways with certain teams, but we’re there with them and at the end of the day, we’re going to be there with them at the end no matter what.”
Julian Benbow can be reached at [email protected].
Reference-www.bostonglobe.com