BSJ Game Report: Bruins 5, Devils 2 - Boston’s big guns lead way in bounce-back effort on road

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-2 win over the Devils with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

Boston’s big guns once again did the heavy lifting in the O-zone on Saturday afternoon, with the 63-37-88 line combing for three goals and six total points in the Bruins’ 5-2 win over the Devils.

Brad Marchand scored twice and Patrice Bergeron added some much-needed insurance in the third period with his sixth goal of the season. Erik Haula scored his first career goal with Boston, while Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 of the 29 shots that came his way. 

Boston finally received some secondary scoring in the closing minutes of the first period — with Anton Blidh generating a Grade-A chance with a shot from the slot that bounced off of Devils goalie Jonathan Bernier.  

Haula pounced on the rebound and slid the puck through Bernier’s five-hole for his first tally in a B’s sweater at 17:37. Boston added to their lead 4:10 into the second when Marchand’s shot on the power play sailed through traffic and into twine to make it a 2-0 contest.

But, following a similar script from Thursday’s loss to the Oilers, Boston coughed up a goal less than a minute later, with Dawson Mercer beating Swayman on the rush to give the home club new life.

Marchand added his second goal of the afternoon just 2:14 later, but an unfortunate bounce prevented Boston from entering the final frame with a two-goal cushion. 

Despite Charlie Coyle’s best efforts to clear a puck behind Boston’s net, the biscuit bounced off of a ref and landed in Grade-A ice, giving the Devils the chance to pounce off of a goal from Jesper Bratt with 36 seconds to go in the second. 

The third period hasn’t been friendly to the B’s so far this season, but Bergeron ensured that Boston would not fall victim to another late-gate letdown — tapping home a puck off of a determined net drive from Pastrnak to give his club some breathing room.

Jake DeBrusk added an empty-net tally with 54 seconds to go in the game to ice this one.  

With the win, the Bruins improve to 7-5-0 on the season. 

THREE UP

Brad Marchand: Is this finally going to be the season where Marchand gets his due as a Hart Trophy finalist? He’s certainly playing like it. With his two-goal performance on Saturday, Marchand is now up to eight goals and 18 points over 12 games. 

Jeremy Swayman: Aside from that mental lapse on the delay of game penalty, Swayman was rock-solid in net, turning aside 27 shots — including a couple of Grade-A stops against Pavel Zacha and Nico Hischier.

Charlie McAvoy: Another impressive outing from Boston’s top defenseman — who recorded his first three-assist game (in the regular season) since Jan. 26, 2021. Don’t look now, but McAvoy is currently on pace for a 60-point campaign from the blue line. Oh — and he also logged 23:45 of ice time and blocked six shots. Ho hum.

TWO DOWN

Jake DeBrusk: He managed to get off the schneid with his empty-net goal, but DeBrusk also found himself bumped down to the fourth line early on in this contest. His slow response after getting knocked to the ice helped pave the way for Mercer’s goal early in the second period. Hopefully, that late tally gives DeBrusk some momentum moving forward.

Brandon Carlo: After a disastrous showing on Thursday against Edmonton, Carlo labored once again at times on Saturday, including an ugly turnover early on against New Jersey that gave Zacha a clean breakaway. Swayman was there for the stop, however. 

LOOSE PUCKS

B’s can’t negate response goals 

Boston might have taken care of business on Saturday, but the B’s were once again plagued by giving up a response goal just seconds after lighting the lamp. 

With Mercer’s tally in the second period (just 28 seconds after Marchand’s first goal of the afternoon) the Bruins have now surrendered NINE goals within five minutes of them scoring, including three over the last two games —all less than a minute after lighting the lamp. 

Gotta tighten things up there, because Boston doesn’t have the personnel to win those kind of back-and-forth contests — at least not at a consistent clip.

B’s clamp down in third period

Entering today’s game, the Bruins featured an ugly -9 goal differential in the third period — the second-worst mark in the NHL behind only the Ottawa Senators. 

That’s a concerning trend for a Bruins team that has traditionally prided itself on locking things down in crunch time. But Bruce Cassidy’s club responded with a strong finish on Saturday, with Bergeron and DeBrusk snuffing out any chance of a New Jersey rally with their tallies. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

PARTING THOUGHTS

Jeremy Swayman tried to do his best impression of Martin Brodeur here. Alas, that’s a no-no in today’s NHL.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will be right back at it on Sunday night when they take on the Habs for the first time since Feb. 12, 2020. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at TD Garden.