BSJ Game Report: Devils 4, Bruins 3 (OT) - B's relinquish 3rd-period lead in frustrating loss

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Devils in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

The good news: The Bruins at least took home a point on Tuesday night and still sit in third place in the East Division.

The even better news? The Bruins will not have to play either the Devils or the Sabres for the remainder of this 2021 season.

And now — the bad news: Despite entering Tuesday's contest with a 20-0-2 record when leading after two periods, the B's weren't able to seal the deal against the cellar-dwelling Devils, as Boston relinquished a pair of third-period leads en route to an eventual 4-3 overtime loss at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Patrice Bergeron, Taylor Hall and Sean Kuraly scored for the Bruins, while Jaroslav Halak — making his first start since April 3 — stopped 17 of the 21 shots that came his way in the loss.

Despite outshooting New Jersey by a 36-21 margin, the Bruins let things get away from them over the final 20 minutes of regulation, with defensive breakdowns giving the rebuilding (but skilled and speedy) Devils plenty of chances for counter-rushes and Grade-A looks. Boston's 2-1 lead — generated off of second-period tallies from Bergeron and Hall — dissipated after Jesper Boqvist potted a rebound at 9:10 in the final frame.

Kuraly gave Boston the lead again just 1:32 later after knocking home a nice feed from David Pastrnak (two assists), but Boston once again failed to clamp things down against New Jersey, with Yegor Sharangovich knotting the contest up at 3-3 just minutes later to force overtime. After Kuraly was whistled for a penalty in the extra frame, Pavel Zacha cashed in on the Devils' 4-on-3 opportunity, roofing a puck past Halak to send Boston home with three out of a possible four points down in Newark.

With the OT loss, Boston still sits in third place in the East with 69 points on the year, aided by the fact that the Islanders also lost in a shootout to the Sabres.

Coyle limited in third period

There are many things still left on Boston's to-do list ahead of the postseason — but staying healthy and resting key cogs on this roster should take precedence over things such as seeding at this point in the schedule. Look no further than what transpired in the closing minutes of the second period — in which a suddenly revitalized Charlie Coyle was struck by a shot from teammate Brandon Carlo and only logged one shift in the third period.

Postgame, Cassidy had no update on Coyle — who has thrived on that new-look third line ever since he was shifted over to wing and Kuraly was bumped up from the fourth line. With that fourth line still a bit out of whack when it comes to finding the proper pieces to slot next to Curtis Lazar, Boston has to hope that Coyle isn't out for an extended stretch, because this recent play of that third line has been a godsend in an otherwise frustrating year in which Boston's bottom-six unit has failed to gain much traction.

THREE UP

Taylor Hall: His sixth goal in a Bruins' sweater might have been a bit of a fortuitous bounce off of a Matt Grzelcyk shot, but Hall was making his presence felt throughout the contest — doling out reverse hits, gaining clean entries and generating Grade-A looks on that second line. In what has been a regular highlight since arriving in Boston, Hall also put on the afterburners and broke up a scoring chance with a clutch backcheck —with the defensive play potentially serving as the difference between a bitter one-point loss or an even more frustrating regulation defeat.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389741502964846597

Sean Kuraly: Coyle's health moving forward will certainly be worth watching, but Boston's new third-line center continues to be heating up for this club at just the right time. After some extended scoring slumps plagued him during the first few months of the season, Kuraly is now up to two goals and five total points over his last nine games — with the pivot knocking home a crisp feed from David Pastrnak at 10:42 in the third. Kuraly finished with a team-high nine shot attempts in the OT loss.

Matt Grzelcyk: While some skaters on Boston's D corps had some less-than-stellar performances, Grzelcyk managed to string together another strong showing in the offensive zone — recording a pair of helpers on Bergeron and Hall's goals. Grzelcyk is in the midst of a three-game point streak — recording four points during that stretch.

TWO DOWN

Mike Reilly: Boston's defense as a whole had some pretty rough lapses in the third, so there's a ton of blame to go around in this one. But we'll single out Reilly here — as the puck-moving blueliner simply let Sharangovich blow past him en route to his tying goal in the third period.

Jaroslav Halak: His defense certainly didn't help him out in the third, but the margin of error for Halak is awfully slim right now — and in his first start in over a month, the veteran netminder did little to dispel the notion that Jeremy Swayman is this club's backup come the postseason. Based on Halak's reaction after relinquishing that OT goal, it seems like he's aware of such a scenario as well.

PLAY OF THE GAME

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389737717962088449

PARTING THOUGHTS

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389760652135309312

QUOTE OF THE DAY

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1389761074447233025

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will now head back to TD Garden for their final homestand of the regular season, with the B's set to battle the Rangers on Thursday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.