The Columbus Blue Jackets will look to keep their playoff hopes alive when they return home to face the Boston Bruins on Sunday evening.
Columbus (40-28-12, 92 points) is two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers in the race for the third seed in the Metropolitan Division, and both teams have two games remaining in the regular season.
“Our backs are against the wall, and we can’t afford to come out slow and kind of dip our toe in,” said the Jackets’ Charlie Coyle. “I think everyone knows what’s at stake, where we’re at with the season, what we need right now.”
Coyle scored twice, Kirill Marchenko had a goal and a helper, and Adam Fantilli added two assists as the visiting Blue Jackets beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Saturday night.
Sean Monahan and Boone Jenner also scored for Columbus, while goaltender Jet Greaves made 20 saves for the Blue Jackets, who won for just the second time in nine games (2-6-1).
“Huge team effort,” Jenner said. “We know what’s at stake. Big effort for us, and got to keep it going (on Sunday).”
With his assist (59th), Zach Werenski moved one shy of setting the Blue Jackets’ single-season record.
Sunday will mark the third and final meeting of the season between the Blue Jackets and Bruins.
Boston travels to Columbus looking to sweep the season series, having doubled up Columbus 4-2 on Feb. 26 before squeezing out a 4-3 shootout victory on March 29.
Despite a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, the Bruins clinched an Eastern Conference wild-card spot thanks to a Detroit Red Wings loss to the New Jersey Devils.
Boston (43-27-10, 96 points) is off to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 16th time in 20 years. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins (17) and Washington Capitals (16) have as many postseason appearances over that span.
Morgan Geekie scored the lone goal for the Bruins on Saturday, and Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves. The Bruins have dropped five straight games (0-3-2).
“I thought we played a good game,” Geekie said. “They’re a good team, and we stuck to our script for most of the game. We knew they were going to make a push in the third, but we weathered it pretty well. They capitalized on their opportunities, and it’s tough to see that one slip away. We had a chance on the power play at the end, but we couldn’t capitalize.”
With his assist on Geekie’s 38th of the season, Charlie McAvoy became the 10th defenseman with 50-plus assists this season, and the first for the Bruins since Ray Bourque registered 62 in 1995-96.
“We just got to make sure we’re staying sharp,” said Bruins coach Marco Sturm. “I’m going to remind them what happened the last time we were in Columbus (March 29). We got absolutely dominated in the first period, and it took us a long time to get going, and we can’t do that (on Sunday). That’s something I’m going to address for sure.”
