BSJ Game Report: Bruins 3, Devils 0 - Bruins clinch playoff berth for 5th straight season

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-0 win over the Devils in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

For the fifth straight season — and the 12th time in the last 14 years — the Bruins have punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Boston took care of business on Monday night to secure the fourth and final playoff spot in the competitive East Division, besting the Devils, 3-0, at Prudential Center off of a complete team effort. Nick Ritchie, Patrice Bergeron and Matt Grzelcyk all lit the lamp for Boston in the victory, while Tuukka Rask stopped all 20 shots that came his way en route to his second shutout of the season.

In what has been an all-too-familiar narrative this season, the Bruins struggled to generate much in terms of points on the board against New Jersey goalie Scott Wedgewood during the first period —with both teams returning to their respective locker rooms during the first intermission stuck in a 0-0 deadlock. Frustrating, to say the least, considering Boston entered the break with commanding leads in...

Shot attempts: 27-9
Shots on goal: 17-4
Scoring chances: 19-6
High-danger scoring chances: 5-0

But in the second period, the dam finally broke against Wedgewood and the Devils — with Ritchie rifling home a one-timer at 9:08 in the second to give Boston a lead it would not relinquish. Bergeron cashed in with his 20th goal of the season at 17:54 in the frame, while Grzelcyk added another goal for good measure with 2:43 left in regulation.

With the win, now only did the Bruins secure a playoff berth — but they also leapfrogged the Islanders in the standings and took third place after New York fell to the Sabres on Monday. With the Penguins also losing, the Bruins now sit one point ahead of the Islanders and three points behind both the Pens and Capitals. With five games left on the docket ahead of the playoffs, Boston still has plenty of time to move up in the standings, especially with the B's still having games in hand against Pittsburgh (two games) and both Washington/New York (one game).



FOUR UP

Patrice Bergeron: With his second-period tally, Bergeron continues to etch his name into the B's record books — with the franchise pivot recording his eighth consecutive 20-goal season. In total, Bergeron has racked up 12 20-goal campaigns in his career — which ranks second in club history behind Johnny Bucyk's 16. Bergeron's strike was an emphatic stamp on another dominant showing from Boston's top line — as the B's held a commanding edge in both shot attempts (18-5) and scoring chances (12-1) during that line's 12:27 of ice time together.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389378447563231235

Nick Ritchie and Boston's third line: Yes, we all know at this point that Boston's top-six unit is a pretty imposing group. But it might be time to start paying attention to this new-look third line of Nick Ritchie, Sean Kuraly and Charlie Coyle. While I was skeptical about how effective this unit would be with Kuraly bumped up from the fourth line, they've proven me wrong — with Boston holding a 4-1 edge in goals scored in this physical grouping's 37:24 of 5v5 ice time. After a bit of a dormant stretch in the top six, it seems as though Ritchie is catching fire at the right time, with the power forward now up to four goals and five points in his last seven games. Ritchie has now tied his career high for goals in a season with 14 tallies over 51 games played.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389373593944039430

Tuukka Rask: Yes, the shot volume wasn't heavy tonight - but Rask made the saves he needed to in what was a tight game for most of the first 30 minutes of play. Since returning from his upper-body injury, Rask is 6-0-0 with a .943 save percentage. Not a bad time to start heating up.

Bruins D corps: It was a professional night all around for a B's D corps still without Brandon Carlo and Mike Reilly (ruled out due to a nagging ailment) — with Grzelcyk lighting the lamp for the fifth time this year, Kevan Miller throwing his weight around, Jakub Zboril recording the primary helper on Ritchie's goal and Connor Clifton dropping the gloves with A.J. Greer after the winger hit Zboril into the boards.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389386264667885573

ONE DOWN

Tom Wilson: Well, we really couldn't find to find fault with tonight during a game like this — a nice, professional win for Boston against a team it should best rather easily. So instead, here's Tom Wilson once again being a menace on the ice against a couple of top-six players. Shocking, I gotta say.

https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/1389377552825913345

PLAY OF THE GAME

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389378447563231235

PARTING THOUGHTS: Ouch.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389358912340643840

QUOTE OF THE DAY

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389395498591793160

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out their two-game set against New Jersey on Thursday with another matchup against the Devils. Jeremy Swayman is expected to get the start in net for Boston. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.