Pastrnak leads Bruins to shootout win over Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — 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 moved within two points of 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.

“All I was focused on was the next shot, no matter what happened, if there was a goal or a big save,” Swayman said. “All I cared about was next shot, making the next play. And the guys in front of me helped me a lot, so that gave me a lot of confidence. It was a great 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 Brad 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 2-all with a wrister through Merzlikins' pads for his third goal in four games, extending his point streak to six games.

“A lot of guys can feel good about themselves,” Bruins