COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jake DeBrusk scored his second goal of the game 1:03 into overtime to lift the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night.
Zach Werenski scored late in the second period to tie the score. After a scoreless third, the DeBrusk beat Elvis Merzlikins following a Columbus turnover.
DeBrusk scored in his fifth straight game, Craig Smith also scored and Linus Ullmark stopped 20 shots in the penalty-filled game as the Bruins bolstered their playoff positioning. They moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of idle Pittsburgh, with 13 games left.
Boston has won three straight and 10 of the last 12.
The Blue Jackets are going in the other direction, losing a season-high seventh in a row. Emil Bemstrom had a goal, and Merzlikins made 34 saves for Columbus, which dropped below .500.
A streaking Bemstrom scored on a rush 4:31 into the game, outracing Brandon Carlo and lifting a shot over Ullmark's glove from the left circle for his fifth of the season.
Late in the first, Boston's Brad Marchand put a monstrous hit on Andrew Peeke at the glass in the Columbus end. With Peeke on the ground and no penalty call, DeBrusk got a breakaway and scored at the other end.
The Blue Jackets were livid, and Jakub Voracek picked up a 10-minute misconduct penalty for raging at with officials. Marchand and Peeke tangled in the second period with both penalized for roughing, and Peeke went to the box again in the third for taking Marchand down.
Smith put the Bruins up 2-1 in the second with a wrist shot from the high slot that beat Merzlikins amid heavy traffic in front for his 16th. Werenski, returning after three games out with a concussion, beat Ullmark with 16 seconds remaining in the period, the defenseman's 11 of the season and first tally since March 10.
UP NEXT
Bruins: At Detroit on Tuesday night.
Blue Jackets: At Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
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