Boston Bruins seem to have an easy win at TD Garden over Blue Jackets 3-1

Nov 5, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Milan Lucic (17) celebrates a goal during the third period against the Dallas Stars at TD Banknorth Garden. The Dallas Stars won 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve got nothing bad to say about the Bruins tonight. That was a sixty minute performance tonight. The Boston Bruins came out with a purpose and an intent to win. The Hockey Gods saw that in the eyes of every member of the Black and Gold and made sure their hard work was rewarded. Tonight, the Boston Bruins pulled off a rather easy 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. (I guess both teams seem comfortable with that score.)

Milan Lucic was tonight’s star of the show (and first star of the game), putting in two goals and getting his first fighting major for the season. It was an embarrassment of riches for this fantasy hockey player. Granted, it would have been awesome to see two Gordie Howes in two consecutive games, but Lucic didn’t seem to have a problem with giving up the Howe for a two goal night.

“It would’ve been nice to get the Gordie, especially after [Chara] got it yesterday,” said Lucic postgame. “But you’re not going to complain with a goal over an assist. Like I said, it was just one of those nights where kind of both goals I had the puck luck on my side and they ended up being big goals.”

The Blue Jackets spent the entire game behind the Bruins. They seemed disinterested at times, and seemed to play as if they were in a different gear than Boston. It looked like the Bruins were still exorcising this week’s early collapse against the Detroit Red Wings. Columbus wasn’t able to generate many offensive chances, and Bruins like Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci were winning seventy percent of their battles in the face-off circle. I think it’s best to let the Blue Jacket’s head coach explain what went wrong for them.

Todd Richards was rather candid with the press after the game.”Well, we were two steps behind. They were bigger, they were stronger, they were faster.  I think every aspect of the game, if you look at it, they were better than us. We couldn’t get the puck stopped in our own zone, and it was too easy in the offensive zone — the ability to just wash us out of the play and get the puck, and then get it back into our zone.”

The Bruins are now 18-7-2 and have a more comfortable five point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, and the Detroit Red Wings. It’s nice to see the Black and Gold play like the team we know.