Boston Bruins Continue to Spiral in 5-2 Loss Against Columbus Blue Jackets

The Boston Bruins had little response to their recent slump, falling 5-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena Monday night and dropping to a 14-4-3 record.

There was no major improvement from Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the New York Rangers, and the same careless mistakes seen in Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings plagued the 60 minutes against the Blue Jackets who have the fewest wins in the Eastern Conference.

Forward Dmitry Voronkov gave Columbus an early lead at 15:52 of the first period after winning a puck battle along the corner boards against Derek Forbort and driving to the net. Voronkov squeaked the puck past Jeremy Swayman, gloveside, as the Bruins netminder hugged the right post, but not tight enough.

The Blue Jackets doubled their advantage off a wrister from defenseman Ivan Provorov by the left circle at 5:38 of the second period. The puck whistled in short side after Provorov was given a clear shooting lane with Pavel Zacha darting to the bench to replace a broken stick.

Swayman was pulled following the 2-0 tally and replaced by Linus Ullmark, marking the first time the Bruins have made an in-game goaltender switch this season. Swayman made 17 saves on 19 shots, and Ullmark finished the night with 19 saves on 21 shots.

Forward Yegor Chinakhov’s goal at 16:42 of the middle frame spoke to the overall game the B’s put forth Monday night – sluggish, sloppy and turnover-laden. Matt Grzelcyk mishandled the puck at the offensive blueline, and Chinakhov picked up the loose rubber and darted up ice, corralling it between Ullmark’s pads to make it 3-0.

The Bruins found themselves defending a 5-on-3 with Jakub Lauko and Hampus Lindholm both in the box – for hooking and delay-of-game, respectively. Kirill Marchenko delivered the backbreaker at 4:51 of the third period while on the power play with a rebound goal for the 4-0 lead.

Matt Poitras – who was moved up to play with Danton Heinen and David Pastrnak on the top line after Bruins coach Jim Montgomery jumbled his forward group in the third – potted his first goal since Nov. 4 off a Charlie McAvoy net-front dish to get the B’s on the board, 4-1, at 8:24 of the final stanza.

However, the Blue Jackets regained the four-goal advantage at 6:19 off a Justin Danforth empty-net tally after the Bruins pulled Ullmark with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation for the extra skater. Danforth’s goal made it 5-1 and marked the first time since March 2012 that Boston has given up five goals in three consecutive games.

Johnny Beecher tipped in a Kevin Shattenkirk point shot with 2:20 remaining to bring the game to its final 5-2 score as the Bruins extended their losing streak to three games.

Boston’s next opportunity to get back in the win column comes Thursday at TD Garden against a San Jose Sharks team that sits last in the league with 10 points through 21 games and a 4-15-2 record.