Columbus Blue JacketsCBJ 2–4 Final Boston BruinsBOS

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Final	1st	2nd	3rd	T	SOG
Columbus Blue JacketsCBJ	1	0	1	2	40
Boston BruinsBOS	1	1	2	4	23

Playoff odds, %	Change
CBJ	-6.5
BOS	+5.9
NYI	+0.5
WSH	+0.5

How the result moved each team's playoff odds, calculated Feb 26, 2026 6:49 PM EST.

Highlights

Scoring

1st Period
4:32	CBJ	Kirill Marchenko (20) Mason Marchment (14), Adam Fantilli (24) · snap xG 0.16	1–0 ▶
15:51	BOS	Viktor Arvidsson (15) Jonathan Aspirot (6) · snap xG 0.01	1–1 ▶
2nd Period
6:54	BOS	Morgan Geekie (33)PP David Pastrnak (50), Elias Lindholm (27) · slap xG 0.09	1–2 ▶
3rd Period
11:15	BOS	Sean Kuraly (5) Tanner Jeannot (15) · slap xG 0.10	1–3 ▶
13:45	CBJ	Adam Fantilli (14) Mason Marchment (15), Zach Werenski (43) · snap xG 0.05	2–3 ▶
19:27	BOS	Viktor Arvidsson (16)EN Charlie McAvoy (36), Casey Mittelstadt (17) · snap xG 0.54	2–4 ▶

Score away–home after each goal; season totals in parentheses.

Shot quality

Expected goals (xG) rate every unblocked shot by how often shots like it go in, from where it was taken, the shot type, the strength and what happened just before it. How it works

CBJ 74%Deserve to win26% BOS

CBJ		BOS
3.92	Expected goals	3.33
2	Goals (no shootout)	4
3.51	Expected goals, 5 on 5	2.05
77	Shot attempts	58
55	Unblocked attempts	42
40	Shots on goal	23

Game notes

What stood out as the game went on, from the play-by-play and the shifts. Time on the bench is counted in 5-on-5 play outside the penalty box; the note says the player sat, not why. Goals saved are against the shots' expected goals (xG).

1st Period
20:00	BOS	Goalie change	Goalie change · Korpisalo in for DiPietro The start of the 2nd; DiPietro had allowed 0 goals on 2 shots (0.17 xG)
2nd Period
6:13	BOS	Goalie change	Goalie change · DiPietro in for Korpisalo 6:13 of the 2nd; Korpisalo had allowed 1 goal on 24 shots (2.33 xG)
3rd Period
5:20	BOS	Goalie	Goalie · Korpisalo +2.0 goals saved 1 goal on 3.01 xG, 30 shots on goal
17:59	CBJ	Pulled goalie	Pulled goalie · Pulled Merzlikins, down 3–2 With 2:01 left; BOS scored at 19:27 of the 3rd (2–4)

Shot map

CBJ shoots ←Bigger circle: higher xG; filled: goal→ BOS shoots

About these numbers

xG comes from hockeystats.io's own model, a gradient-boosted tree model trained on every unblocked shot from the 2021-22 to 2025-26 regular seasons using the NHL's public play-by-play. Each shot's value is the share of similar shots that became goals. A team's xG is the sum over its shots; "deserve to win" asks how often the team would outscore its opponent if every shot went in at exactly that rate. Blocked shots count as attempts but have no xG (the NHL records where they were blocked, not where they were taken), so the map leaves them out.

Box score

Columbus Blue Jackets

	Skater	G	A	P	+/−	Att	xG	Hit	Blk	TOI
Forwards
86	Kirill Marchenko	1	0	1	0	5	0.38	0	0	19:43
19	Adam Fantilli	1	1	2	0	9	0.63	6	1	19:09
27	Mason Marchment	0	2	2	0	2	0.10	2	0	18:32
3	Charlie Coyle	0	0	0	-1	4	0.42	1	1	17:12
23	Sean Monahan	0	0	0	-1	1	0.00	0	0	16:33
4	Cole Sillinger	0	0	0	0	3	0.08	4	0	14:51
24	Mathieu Olivier	0	0	0	0	6	0.55	3	0	13:42
22	Boone Jenner	0	0	0	-1	3	0.11	1	0	12:57
91	Kent Johnson	0	0	0	0	5	0.38	0	1	12:28
10	Dmitri Voronkov	0	0	0	0	4	0.31	0	0	12:06
21	Isac Lundeström	0	0	0	-1	1	0.03	2	0	11:40
18	Miles Wood	0	0	0	-1	3	0.10	1	0	10:07
Defense
8	Zach Werenski	0	1	1	-1	15	0.34	1	2	28:34
78	Damon Severson	0	0	0	0	3	0.03	1	2	22:31
9	Ivan Provorov	0	0	0	0	4	0.19	0	1	19:43
5	Denton Mateychuk	0	0	0	0	7	0.25	0	0	16:43
44	Erik Gudbranson	0	0	0	0	1	0.00	2	2	15:20
15	Dante Fabbro	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	0	1	14:56

Goalie	SA	GA	SV	SV%	xGA	GSAx
Elvis Merzlikins	22	3	19	.864	2.34	-0.66

Boston Bruins

	Skater	G	A	P	+/−	Att	xG	Hit	Blk	TOI
Forwards
88	David Pastrnak	0	1	1	0	12	0.75	1	2	22:20
28	Elias Lindholm	0	1	1	0	4	0.17	0	0	19:35
39	Morgan Geekie	1	0	1	0	1	0.09	2	0	17:50
11	Casey Mittelstadt	0	1	1	+1	4	0.23	1	0	15:40
18	Pavel Zacha	0	0	0	+1	3	0.12	1	0	15:29
93	Fraser Minten	0	0	0	0	3	0.15	3	0	15:19
33	Viktor Arvidsson	2	0	2	+1	4	0.60	0	0	14:29
84	Tanner Jeannot	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	3	1	13:14
92	Marat Khusnutdinov	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	1	12:50
52	Sean Kuraly	1	0	1	0	3	0.35	1	0	12:42
47	Mark Kastelic	0	0	0	0	2	0.29	3	2	11:45
81	Michael Eyssimont	0	0	0	0	6	0.30	0	0	10:03
Defense
73	Charlie McAvoy	0	1	1	0	3	0.00	0	2	23:55
45	Jonathan Aspirot	0	1	1	+1	1	0.00	1	7	21:11
27	Hampus Lindholm	0	0	0	0	3	0.02	1	1	20:16
91	Nikita Zadorov	0	0	0	-1	2	0.04	2	2	17:39
6	Mason Lohrei	0	0	0	+2	4	0.18	1	0	17:25
20	Henri Jokiharju	0	0	0	0	3	0.03	0	2	16:18

Goalie	SA	GA	SV	SV%	xGA	GSAx
Joonas Korpisalo	38	2	36	.947	3.75	+1.75
Michael DiPietro	2	0	2	1.000	0.17	+0.17

Skaters by time on ice. Goalie lines count shots with the goalie in net, from the NHL play-by-play.

Player ratings

What each player added to the result, in goals, from most to least. Hover a number for what it's made of.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Player	Rating	Points	Shots	On ice	Pen	FO	Other	GSAx	TOI
8 Zach Werenski D	+2.50	+0.55	+0.22	+1.67	0.00	0.00	+0.06	—	28:34
19 Adam Fantilli C	+2.40	+1.30	+0.41	+0.66	0.00	+0.04	-0.01	—	19:09
17 Mason Marchment L	+1.79	+1.40	+0.06	+0.46	-0.15	0.00	+0.02	—	18:32
78 Damon Severson D	+1.74	0.00	+0.02	+1.62	0.00	0.00	+0.10	—	22:31
86 Kirill Marchenko R	+1.35	+0.75	+0.25	+0.52	-0.15	-0.01	0.00	—	19:43
24 Mathieu Olivier R	+1.10	0.00	+0.36	+0.75	0.00	-0.01	0.00	—	13:42
10 Dmitri Voronkov L	+0.80	0.00	+0.20	+0.63	0.00	-0.01	-0.02	—	12:06
4 Cole Sillinger C	+0.78	0.00	+0.05	+0.75	0.00	-0.02	0.00	—	14:51
3 Charlie Coyle C	+0.73	0.00	+0.27	+0.39	0.00	-0.01	+0.07	—	17:12
91 Kent Johnson C	+0.60	0.00	+0.25	+0.34	0.00	0.00	+0.01	—	12:28
23 Sean Monahan C	+0.46	0.00	0.00	+0.49	0.00	-0.01	-0.02	—	16:33
9 Ivan Provorov D	+0.28	0.00	+0.13	+0.10	0.00	0.00	+0.05	—	19:43
15 Dante Fabbro D	+0.23	0.00	+0.01	+0.17	0.00	0.00	+0.05	—	14:56
38 Boone Jenner C	+0.21	0.00	+0.07	+0.07	+0.15	-0.06	-0.02	—	12:57
5 Denton Mateychuk D	+0.02	0.00	+0.16	-0.10	0.00	0.00	-0.04	—	16:43
11 Miles Wood L	-0.04	0.00	+0.06	+0.06	-0.15	0.00	-0.02	—	10:07
44 Erik Gudbranson D	-0.08	0.00	0.00	-0.16	0.00	0.00	+0.08	—	15:20
21 Isac Lundeström C	-0.34	0.00	+0.02	-0.36	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	11:40
90 Elvis Merzlikins G	-0.66	0.00	—	—	0.00	—	—	-0.66	58:32

Boston Bruins

Player	Rating	Points	Shots	On ice	Pen	FO	Other	GSAx	TOI
70 Joonas Korpisalo G	+1.90	0.00	—	—	+0.15	—	—	+1.75	53:57
71 Viktor Arvidsson L	+1.45	+1.50	+0.39	-0.46	0.00	0.00	+0.02	—	14:29
45 Jonathan Aspirot D	+1.15	+0.70	0.00	+0.14	0.00	0.00	+0.31	—	21:11
88 David Pastrnak R	+0.88	+0.70	+0.49	-0.35	0.00	0.00	+0.04	—	22:20
39 Morgan Geekie C	+0.57	+0.75	+0.06	-0.21	0.00	+0.01	-0.04	—	17:50
52 Sean Kuraly C	+0.49	+0.75	+0.23	-0.50	0.00	+0.03	-0.02	—	12:42
11 Casey Mittelstadt C	+0.36	+0.55	+0.15	-0.34	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	15:40
73 Charlie McAvoy D	+0.26	+0.70	0.00	-0.52	0.00	0.00	+0.08	—	23:55
80 Michael DiPietro G	+0.17	0.00	—	—	0.00	—	—	+0.17	6:03
6 Mason Lohrei D	+0.15	0.00	+0.12	+0.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	17:25
93 Fraser Minten C	+0.08	0.00	+0.10	-0.23	+0.15	+0.02	+0.04	—	15:19
28 Elias Lindholm C	+0.02	+0.55	+0.11	-0.66	0.00	+0.04	-0.02	—	19:35
81 Michael Eyssimont C	-0.01	0.00	+0.20	-0.07	-0.15	+0.01	0.00	—	10:03
92 Marat Khusnutdinov C	-0.02	0.00	0.00	-0.09	0.00	0.00	+0.07	—	12:50
84 Tanner Jeannot L	-0.13	+0.70	0.00	-0.90	0.00	0.00	+0.07	—	13:14
18 Pavel Zacha C	-0.16	0.00	+0.08	-0.23	0.00	-0.02	0.00	—	15:29
47 Mark Kastelic C	-0.53	0.00	+0.19	-0.82	0.00	0.00	+0.10	—	11:45
20 Henri Jokiharju D	-0.62	0.00	+0.02	-0.91	+0.15	0.00	+0.12	—	16:18
27 Hampus Lindholm D	-0.79	0.00	+0.01	-0.85	0.00	0.00	+0.05	—	20:16
91 Nikita Zadorov D	-1.02	0.00	+0.02	-1.12	0.00	0.00	+0.08	—	17:39

An expected-goals take on Dom Luszczyszyn's Game Score: goals and assists, the quality of a player's own shots, shot quality for and against while they were on the ice at 5v5, penalties, faceoffs and puck plays, all in goals; goalies by goals saved above expected. From the NHL play-by-play and shift charts.