from Joe Haggerty of NBCSports Boston,

The two-day break couldn’t come at a better time for the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins won’t skate on Sunday after last night’s double-overtime 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 2 at TD Garden and won’t again hit the ice in anger until Tuesday night’s Game 3 at the Nationwide Arena, home of the Blue Jackets. That’s a good thing for a Bruins group that skated with tired legs, made some key mental mistakes and looked at times like they didn’t have much in the tank coming off last round’s taxing seven-game series.

It also factored very much into the Bruins not being able to pull out Saturday night’s double-overtime marathon. Charlie Coyle had a ghastly turnover in his own end that led to one Artemi Panarin goal, the Bruins looked like they badly needed a break in the third period and a Patrice Bergeron tripping penalty in double-OT was the final straw that led to Matt Duchene’s game-winner for Columbus.

Credit a weary Bruins bunch for battling and a bounce here or there could have given the Black and Gold the decision in regulation, but it sure looked like the nine days of rest helped an energized Columbus crew outlast the Bruins when it was all over.

When 42-year-old Zdeno Chara is forced to play 28:27 in one of these playoff games due to the circumstances around the game, a couple of days away from battle is pretty much mandatory.

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