Bruins Pleased With 'Great Win' Over Blue Jackets Despite Resting Key Players

Boston Bruins forward Mark Kastelic

Bruins Pleased With 'Great Win' Over Blue Jackets Despite Resting Key Players originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Bruins have clinched a playoff berth and used Sunday as a chance to rest some key players.

Although Boston is battling the Ottawa Senators for the top Wild Card spot, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm wanted the team to be fully healthy going into the playoffs. So, on Sunday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Henri Jokiharju, Jordan Harris, Alex Steeves, and Lukas Reichel entered the lineup for Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Tanner Jeannot, and Viktor Arvidsson.

Despite resting some key starters, the Bruins were able to get a 3-2 win, and Sturm was pleased with the team’s win.

“It was a great win, first of all, just without a few guys,” Sturm said on Sunday, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Guys worked extremely hard like they’ve done all year long. It was not really a surprise. Also glad some guys got rewarded today – a guy like Kasty, Joki. These guys, they put in a lot of work, so it’s nice to see.”

In the win, it was the Bruins’ depth players who stepped up as Sean Kuraly finished the night with three points, while Mark Kastelic and Jokiharju had a pair.

“Credit to us, we got a lot of new guys in the lineup tonight, and everybody did their job,” Kuraly said. “We knew no one had to do any more than just their job.”

With the win, the Bruins are now 44-27-10 and are holding onto the top Wild Card spot. Boston will close out its regular season on Monday at home against the New Jersey Devils.

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