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 Rookie center Alex Khokhlachev scored in the seventh round of the
shootout, leading the Boston Bruins to a come-from-behind 4-3 win
over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday in Nationwide Arena.
Khokhlachev, a 21-year-old recalled from minor-league Providence on
Thursday and playing only the second game of his NHL career, was the
only shooter on either club to score in the shootout.
"We've got some young guys we have to trust at times," Boston coach
Claude Julien said. "Sometimes it looks good, sometimes it doesn't
look so good.
"Koko came up big for us. You wonder how long it's going to go in
the shootout, but he's a skilled player who can do well in these."
Khokhlachev said his life has been a whirlwind since his call-up. He
didn't know if he was playing until the morning skate.
"I didn't have time to think," Khokhlachev said. "So maybe that's a
good thing.
"I made some moves and it opened (Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei
Bobrovsky) up to go five-hole. It's a great feeling for me."
 The Bruins, who came back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period,
got goals from defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, right wing Matt Fraser
and left wing Daniel Paille.
Bruins backup goaltender Niklas Svedberg had 24 saves.
Blue Jackets center Ryan Johansen had a goal and two assists, while
left winger Nick Foligno had his club-leading 10th goal of the
season, and defenseman Jack Johnson scored his first of the season.
Bobrovsky survived a shaky third period to make 38 saves, but the
Blue Jackets lost for the 11th time in 13 games.
"You take a 2-0 lead into the third, you'd expect to get two
points," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "But our game was
better (than a 5-0 loss to Detroit on Tuesday). It wasn't good
enough, but it was better."
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead at 9:52 of the first period when
Johansen blocked a shot by Boston defenseman Kevan Millar and
gathered the puck behind him in the neutral zone.
With the Bruins changing lines, Johansen was free on a breakaway,
and he wristed the puck under the left arm of Svedberg for his
seventh goal of the season.
Only 98 seconds later, it was 2-0 Blue Jackets.
Defenseman Jordan Leopold fired a wrister from the blue line just as
Foligno skated in front of Svedberg's path. The puck hit off
Foligno's backside and deflected past Svedberg.
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The game seemed to be fully in Columbus' control into the early
stages of the third period.
But, at 1:28 of the third, Seidenberg loosed a wrister from the blue
line, the puck skidding and bouncing and hopping as it approached
Bobrovsky.
The puck shot up just three feet in front of Bobrovsky, jumping over
his stick and into the net. He looked to the rafters in disbelief.
It gave the Bruins life, and seemed to sap the Blue Jackets of their
speed and energy.
"We got back to our game after that," Julien said. "It gave us life.
We struggled before that."
At 9:33 of the third, Fraser redirected it up and over Bobrovsky's
shoulder to make it 2-2.
At 11:32, Paille turned and fired a wrister that kicked off the
backside of Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski and beat
Bobrovsky.
But only 1:15 later, Johnson pulled the Blue Jackets back to even
with a wrister through the crowd on the left dot to make it 3-3.
NOTES: Bruins C Brad Marchand did not travel with the club because
of an undisclosed injury. ... Columbus D Jack Johnson declined
comment to the media regarding the bankruptcy filing that reportedly
has divided his family. The Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday that
Johnson claims less than $50,000 in assets and more than $10 million
in debt because of his parents' misspending. ... Boston C David
Krejci was out of the lineup Friday night for the seventh time in
nine games because of a lower-body injury. ... Boston C Alex
Khokhlachev, called up from minor-league Providence on Thursday,
played his second NHL game, taking Krejci's spot between LW Milan
Lucic and RW Spencer Griffith. ... D Kevin Connauton, acquired off
waivers from Dallas on Wednesday, made his Blue Jackets debut last
night. ... Blue Jackets LW Matt Calvert, who missed five games with
a lower-body injury, and RW Jack Skille, who missed four games with
a head/neck injury, returned to the lineup Friday night.
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