It only took five tries but the Bruins (18-9-5) rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits (3-1 and 4-2) to beat the Devils (13-16-5) 5-4 in a shootout this evening at the TD Garden. After losing 1-0 to New Jersey on Sunday night at the Garden, the offenses each exploded tonight as the Devils' was clicking early and Boston's only answer to that was a pair of clutch third period goals by its BU defensemen. There were plenty of scoring chances in overtime but nobody could end it so it went to a shootout where center Charlie Coyle & right David Pastrnak both scored for the B's while goaltender Jaroslav Halak (31 saves, 8-5-3) got better as the game went along, not allowing a goal after late in the second period. Boston improved to 2-3-1 against New Jersey with two more meetings left to go in the regular season.
Before the game started, the Bruins got a boost as both left wing Brad Marchand (Covid-19) and defenseman Brandon Carlo (concussion) were each able to return to action after they missed some time recently. Other than the late goals though, it was a game to forget for Boston's defense which turned the puck over a couple times in its in own zone that directly resulted in goals for the Devils. That began right away as Jeremy Lauzon's bad pass went into center Patrice Bergeron's skates and led to New Jersey defenseman P.K. Subban knocking the puck to left wing Miles Wood who fired it in. It was the BC product's 11th goal of the season (he's scored 3 times against Boston in 2021) and it came at 1:28 of the first period.
New Jersey goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (44 saves, 9-9-2) earned a shutout on Sunday but he returned to Earth in a hurry after his recent success against the Bruins. Left wing Nick Ritchie's wrist shot through traffic beat him at 5:55 of the first period for a 1-1 tie. Ritchie's 10th goal of the season was assisted by center David Krejci and right wing Craig Smith. Illustrating how much trouble they'd had with the Devils, that was the first even strength goal of the season (16+ periods at that point) for Boston against them. The B's got caught flat-footed when center Michael McLeod blew past them for a breakaway then he tucked a backhander into the net at 9:34 of the first period. Right wing Jesper Boqvist and defenseman Ryan Murray had the assists on McLeod's fifth goal of the season.
The Devils started the second period on a high note as well when center Travis Zajac tipped in left wing Jesper Bratt's shot for the 200th goal of his Devils (the only team he's ever played for) career. Murray provided the secondary assist on Zajac's fifth goal of the season. Marchand tapped into some frustration by body slamming Bratt a few minutes later then cutting it to 3-2 Devils at 15:48 of the second period. He ripped a wrist shot out of Blackwood's reach for his 13th goal of the season (also his 1st in 9 games but who's counting?). Bergy and Krejci had the assists on his momentum swing of a tally or so we thought that it was at the time. Following a face-off win by Bergeron in his own defensive zone, Lauzon's pass went to New Jersey's right wing Kyle Palmieri who put in his eighth goal of the season (5th against Boston!) at 17:06 of the second period.
The Black and Gold really couldn't afford another loss to the Devils two days later so it was reassuring to see their great young defenseman Charlie McAvoy step up to put in a juicy rebound at 10:22 of the third period that trimmed New Jersey's lead to 4-3. Smith and Marchand had the assists on McAvoy's fourth goal of the season. A few minutes later at 16:00, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk's wrist shot seemed to catch Mackenzie up high by surprise. Just like Ritchie's goal-except in reverse order-Smith and Krejci notched the helpers on the Charlestown native's third goal of the season.
I guess that the only way that the Bruins can beat the Devils this year is in a shootout (which is so weird!) since they are 2-0 in those but 0-3-1 in regulation and overtime combined. Halak went a perfect 2-for-2 in the shootout, stopping center Pavel Zacha and Palmieri's attempts. One of the hottest teams in the NHL-the Penguins (23-11-2)-come to the Garden on Thursday (7, NESN) and Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) for another two-game set which is all that the B's and Pens have had against each other this wacky season: one in Boston then one in Pittsburgh now another here before one last brief series in Pittsburgh at the end of April. Boston is 3-1 vs. Pittsburgh in 2021 but the Penguins have won four games in a row coming into this and they are 7-2-1 in their last 10. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy hopes to get goaltender Tuukka Rask into the lineup later this week but we'll have to see how his creaky back is feeling.
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