In a battle of surging wild card clubs Sunday in Columbus, the Bruins looked like a team woefully unprepared for what the Blue Jackets were throwing at them.

Down 3-0 through 20 minutes, the Bruins turned it on the second period, but still had nothing to show for their efforts. It put the Bruins in about as deep a hole as Marco Sturm’s club has been in this season. But with three third-period goals, including the game-tying goal with 11 seconds remaining in regulation, the Bruins put themselves in position to steal this one and did so with a 4-3 shootout win.

The Bruins earned the extra point with shootout goals from Fraser Minten and Viktor Arvidsson (who scored the winner in the bottom of the third round), while Jeremy Swayman stopped two of three Blue Jackets in the shootout frame.

In search of something to feel good about in the third period, the Bruins put themselves on the board with a Charlie McAvoy shot that beat the Jackets’ Jet Greaves at the 6:29 mark of the period. Just 2:14 later, it was McAvoy who delivered once again, this time with a shot tipped by Pavel Zacha to bring Boston within one.

And in the final minute of regulation, and with the Bruins back on the power play and with a 6-on-4 advantage, Zacha delivered with his second goal of the game and his NHL-leading 13th goal in the month of March to send Boston to overtime.

In goal, the Bruins turned to Swayman for his second start in as many days for the first time since Nov. 2021. And though he began his night with three goals allowed on 12 shots in the opening frame, Sturm resisted the urge to make that goalie change ‘spark’ and stuck with Swayman for the start of the second period. Swayman, who finished with 21 saves in the victory, rewarded that trust with 12 straight saves to help the Black and Gold complete the comeback.

On the backend, the Bruins plugged Henri Jokiharju back into the lineup after two straight healthy scratches. The decision to go back to Jokiharju came with Mason Lohrei currently nursing a lingering upper-body injury, according to Sturm.

The Bruins will get back to work Tuesday when they host the Stars at TD Garden.