Charlie Coyle's two goals lead Bruins past Blue Jackets in second-round opener

BOSTON – Charlie Coyle wasn’t thinking about his first goal, which tied things up at the end of regulation.

Or his second, which won it in overtime.

What was weighing on him was the time he coughed up the puck and handed Columbus a goal, even though he redeemed himself by leading Boston to a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Thursday night.

Asked about his two late goals, Coyle said: “I had a costly turnover in the third period. You can’t have that during the game.

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“I’m just relieved we got the win,” he added somberly. “I didn’t really care who scored.”

Coyle tied the game in the final five minutes of regulation and scored again with 5:15 gone in overtime to help the Bruins take the opener of the best-of-seven series and send Columbus to its first loss of the playoffs.

Tuukka Rask stopped 20 shots for Boston, which took a 1-0 lead on Noel Acciari’s short-handed goal in the first period, then fell behind in the third after Brandon Dubinsky and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored in a span of 13 seconds.

“I think we know how to respond to that. We didn’t get rattled,” Rask said. “We felt like we were going to get it back, and we did.”

Coyle tied it when he one-timed a backhanded centering pass from Marcus Johansson into the net with 4:35 left to force overtime. He ended it by deflecting a shot from Johansson into the net.

A native of nearby East Weymouth who was acquired at the trading deadline from the Minnesota Wild, Coyle said that when he would play street hockey on the cul-de-sac where he lived he used to imagined himself coming through for his hometown team.

“You always think about that stuff,” he said. “I’m sure we’ve all done that. It’s pretty cool to be living it.”

Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves for the Blue Jackets, who swept the Presidents Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.

Game 2 is Saturday night in Boston before the best-of-seven series moves to Columbus for Games 3 and 4.

Bruins forward David Krejci did not finish the game after taking a hit from Riley Nash late in the third period. Bruins coach Cassidy said he was not in the concussion protocol.

“He got hit. He left the game. By the time he was available to come back, the game was over,” Cassidy said, calling him day to day.