The 34-year-old forward had a goal and two assists to extend Boston’s winning streak to four games.
The Boston Bruins are undefeated in 2024.
James van Riemsdyk scored three points, including the winning goal, and his line with Trent Frederic and Danton Heinen powered the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
“Really good for [van Riemsdyk] to get a goal,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said to reporters on Tuesday. “I think it had been awhile since he had a goal (six games), but he’s contributing to us and to our team game every night. Somehow he always ends up getting the play because he’s smart, he gets in the right areas.”
Linus Ullmark made 22 saves for the Bruins, who improved to 23-7-6 with their fourth win in a row. Frederic, Heinen and Kevin Shattenkirk scored the other three goals for Boston in its first victory of the new year.
The Bruins had two power-play opportunities in the first period but couldn’t capitalize, totaling just one shot on goal between the two chances. However, Boston opened its third opportunity at 11:12 of the second period with three shots on goal, and van Riemsdyk broke a 1-1 tie at 13:07, redirecting Hampus Lindholm’s point shot to put the Bruins ahead.
The first period was scoreless, but Columbus started to gain momentum in the final three minutes of the frame, outshooting Boston 7-0, but Ullmark kept the Blue Jackets off the board.
Shattenkirk opened the scoring at 2:12 of the second period, firing from the right boards after receiving the puck from Matt Grzelcyk all the way around the end boards. It marked the second game in a row that the two connected for a goal with both players in the lineup.
“A lot of it is just generated from the coaches pushing me to get up the ice as the play is moving away from our zone,” Shattenkirk said. “It establishes good gaps defensively, but it allows you to jump up on maybe those 50-50 pucks and keep plays alive.”
Kent Johnson tied it 1-1 for Columbus just 1:54 later from the high slot. A missed pass bounced off the side boards and back into the middle, and Ivan Provorov got the puck to Johnson before the Bruins could regroup defensively.
Heinen extended it to 3-1 at 7:29 of the third period, rebounding van Riemsdyk’s shot after Frederic forced Columbus defenseman David Jiricek into a turnover.
“They played a big, heavy game,” Montgomery said of the van Riemsdyk-Frederic-Heinen line. “That third goal that extended the lead was huge for us.”
That same forward trio iced the game at 15:55, with Heinen aiding the breakout off the glass up to van Riemsdyk, who centered it to Frederic to make it 4-1.
The Bruins will look to extend their winning streak against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at TD Garden.