The Devils
were in Boston for the second straight game. They seemed poised to continue
their winning over the Bruins. Instead, they blew a two-goal lead in the third
period and lost in a shootout 5-4.
The Devils
again sat Will Butcher, Aaron Dell and Nikita Gusev. Boston was again thet
walking wounded, but did get Brad Marchand and Brandon Carlo back.
They are
still without Tuukka Rask so Jaroslav Halak was in net again for the B’s. He
stopped 31 of 35 Devils shots for an .886 save percentage. He got all four of the
Devils’ power play shots and was 27-for-31 at even strength.
Mackenzie Blackwood
went again for the Devils, stopping 44-of-48 shots for a .917 save percentage.
He stopped four of Boston’s five power play shots and was 40-of-43 at even strength.
The Bruins
were 1-for-2 on the power play and the Devils were 0-for-3, including putting up
an ofer on a power play in overtime.
Miles Wood
kicked off the scoring just 1:28 into the game. It came when PK Subban kept a Boston
clearing attempt in the Bruins’ zone. It was a great keep and a very savvy play,
as he quickly got it ot Wood, who shot quickly and fired it by Halak. The Devils
had the 1-0 lead.
Boston tied
it about 4:30 later at 5:55. Nick Ritchie had this one which came when Craig
Smith won a faceoff in the Bruins zone. David Krejci got it to Richie off the rush.
Ritchie skated into the Devils’ zone and wristed a shot from the top of the near
faceoff circle and beat Blackwood.
This goal
ended a 120-plus minute scoreless streak for the Bruins against the Devils.
The game was
tied, but it would not stay that way for too long. At 9:24 of the first ,
Michael McLeod had the puck tipped to him by Jesper Boqvist and cut in on his
backhand and scored. Ryan Murray had the secondary assist. It was now 2-1
Devils heading into the second.
After a Boston
goal was disallowed (again) at the 18:59 mark of the second – by the referee
for goalie interference, no challenge from Boston.
Travis Zajac
got the actual scoring kicked off about 1:46 after that goal was disallowed. It
came when the Devils hemmed the Bruins in their zone and Boston could not get a
full change. It got to Murray at the point, who switched and dropped off to
Jesper Bratt. Bratt shot from the point and Zajac tipped by Halak for the goal.
This was the
200th goal of Zajac’s career – the fourth to get 200 all with the
Devils. The others are Patrik Elias, John MacLean and Bobby Holik.
The Devils
now led 3-1. But Boston would get another back at the 15:48 mark on the power
play. Brad Marchand, fresh off of a scuffle with Bratt that led to matching minors
for roughing, scored. Krejci made a nice outlet pass to Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron
passed to Marchand in the high slot and he scored to make it 3-2.
But the Devils
got that one back too when Kyle Palmieri unassisted at 17:06. It came
when Palmieri intercepted a clearing pass by Boston. He got it on his backhand
and moved forehand, beating Halak to make it 4-2 New Jersey. It was Palmieri’s
fifth of the season versus Boston, lending credence to the idea that Boston
should trade for him just to keep him from scoring against them!
The Devils
now had built up a two-goal lead. But the third period was looming and it was
about ot go dark for the Devils.
It began at
10:22 when Charlie McAvoy put a rebound away. Marchand got the puck to Smith at
the point. Smith snapped a shot on net and the rebound came right to McAvou at
he side of the net. He put it home to make it 4-3 Devils.
At the 16
minute mark, Matt Grzelcyk tied the game and completed Boston’s comeback. The Bruins’
Krejci won the faceoff in the Devils’ zone and got it back to Smith, who passed
to Grzelcyk at the point. He shot and beat Blackwood cleanly to tie the score
at 4-4.
When time
ran out on regulation, it was off to overtime.
With a little
more than two minutes to go in OT, Damon Severson cut in on a breakaway. He
didn’t score, but did draw a slashing penalty, putting the Devils up 4-on-3. They
were unable to convert and things were off to a shootout when time ran out on
overtime.
In the shootout,
Pavel Zacha went first for the Devils. He was stopped by Halak. Charlie Coyle scored
top end the first round. The second round was first verse same as the first.
Palmieri (who had fallen on a skate in OT but was not injured). He was stopped
by Halak and David Pastrnak scored nearly the same goal as Coyle to give Boston
the shootout win.
Team stats saw
Boston fire 48 shots (a two game total of 88) Blackwood’s way while Halak was
tested just 35 times. Faceoffs were close with New Jersey winning 49-percent.
Hits saw Boston edge the Devils at 24 to 22. The Devils had more blocked shots
at 12 to the Bruins’ eight. Giveaways were eight to three with the Devils
turning over the puck more.
McLeod won
70-percent of his faceoffs to lead in winning percentage among centers. Subban
led in ice time with 22:46. Yegor Sharangovich led the forwards with 19:28, one
second more than Bratt, who clocked inat 19:27. Zacha led in power play ice
time with 3:21.
Jack Hughes
led in shots on goal with five, hits were led by Dmitry Kulikov with two, blocks
were led by Ty Smith and Kulikov who had two each and takeaways were led by Hughes
with three.
So next up,
two days off for the Devils. No game
until Friday when the Devils return to Prudential Center to face the Washington
Capitals. That game will start at 7 PM and we will see you after the game.
Until then, stay
safe everyone!