Boston’s Taylor Hall celebrates a goal against Columbus during the Bruins’ 5-4 win on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. Jay LaPrete/Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — David Pastrnak scored in the shootout and had an assist to lift the surging Boston Bruins over the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 on Saturday night.
Boston has won seven of eight and is three points ahead of Washington for the top wild card and seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Bruins also are two points behind third-place Toronto in the Atlantic Division.
Jake DeBrusk, Erik Haula, Craig Smith and Patrice Bergeron scored for Boston, and Brad Marchand added two assists. Jeremy Swayman stopped 20 shots for his sixth straight win.
Jakub Voracek’s goal with 1.8 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime. Gus Nyquist, Vladislav Gavrikov and Zach Werenski also scored for the Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins made 28 saves, but Columbus lost for the fourth time in five games.
DeBrusk put Boston on the board at 10:39 of the first period with his deflection of Marchand’s shot through a crowd in front of Merzlikins.
Nyquist made it 1-all at 16:57, picking up a loose puck and roofing it over Swayman. Columbus took the lead with a minute remaining in the first when Swayman’s attempt to clear a shot landed on Gavrikov’s stick and he buried it for his first goal since Nov. 22.
Boston came back at 1:51 of the second when Haula tied the score with a wrister through Merzlikins’ pads for his third goal in four games, extending his point streak to six games.
Columbus pulled ahead again at 14:28 of the second on Werenski’s wrister from the point with 46 seconds left on Charlie Coyle’s slashing penalty. The goal was Werenski’s fourth of the season with the man advantage, and his first since missing four games.
The score was knotted again when Smith scored off a give-and-go with Connor Clifton at 4:40 of the third, and Boston went up 4-3 on Bergeron’s power-play goal at 14:58 – his seventh of the season with the man advantage.
Voracek sent the game to overtime with his power-play slap shot from above the left circle, which came after a clock malfunction in the final minute that appeared to extend the game by about 4 seconds.
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