BSJ Game Report: Bruins 5, Devils 3 - Pastrnak’s late goal lifts B’s to 3rd straight win

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-3 win over the Devils with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

David Pastrnak sure picked a great time to finally get off the schneid. 

After being held out of the goal-scorers column over his past nine games, Pastrnak finally broke through with 5:49 left on the clock — snapping a third-period deadlock and pacing the B’s past the Devils, 5-3, at TD Garden on Tuesday night. 

The B’s bottom-six unit also did plenty of heavy lifting on the scoresheet — with Oskar Steen burying his first career NHL goal and Boston’s fourth line receiving tallies from Trent Frederic and Curtis Lazar.

Brandon Carlo also scored for the Bruins, who have won three games in a row and are now 17-10-2 on the season. Linus Ullmark stopped 23 of 26 shots in the victory. 

Devils netminder MacKenzie Blackwood got off to a rough start, with the goalie caught by surprise after Lazar fired in a low-danger shot across the slot. Much to the B’s delight, Lazar’s shot sailed past Blackwood and into twine — giving Boston a 1-0 lead just 2:53 into the contest.

A poor feed from Brandon Carlo sprung Nathan Bastian for a game-tying breakaway goal just 57 seconds into the second, but Steen put Boston back ahead with his career-first tally just 20 seconds later — batting a tumbling puck past Blackwood to make it a 2-1 contest.

Lax defense and a poor rebound surrendered by Ullmark allowed Tomas Tatar to even things up once more at 3:05 in the second — but Frederic banked a puck past Blackwood at 9:42 to put the B’s back in front once again.

Boston’s lone power-play opportunity didn’t go as planned in the third period, with Damon Severson exiting the sin bin and burying another game-tying goal past Ullmark on a breakaway bid at 7:36. 

As the minutes ticked off in the third and overtime loomed on the horizon, Pastrnak broke through with his first goal since Nov. 30 — burying a second-effort strike past Blackwood to give the B’s the lead for good.

THREE UP

Fourth Line: Just a fantastic all-around game from Boston’s fourth line. Yes, both Lazar and Frederic had some fortunate bounces, but that checking unit had their way against the Devils for most of the night. In their 9:39 of 5v5 ice time together, Boston had an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal and a 2-0 edge in goals scored.  

Oskar Steen: Of course, Steen automatically earns a spot on here after burying his first career NHL tally. But even though the goal itself was a bit fluky, he certainly passed the eye test on a number of his shifts — landing four hits and regularly planting himself around Grade-A ice. 

David Pastrnak: All things considered, it was a pretty ugly showing from Pastrnak and that new-look second line for most of the night — with No. 88’s struggles continuing with a major whiff on the power play. But after finally breaking through in the third period, don’t be surprised to see Pastrnak go on one of his regularly-scheduled heaters. The B's could certainly use it. 

THREE DOWN

Linus Ullmark: Yes, he wasn’t helped by a leaky defense, but the B’s desperately needed a timely save or two from Ullmark in tonight’s game. Needs to be much sharper. 

Blue-line execution: Carlo might have had the most noticeable miscue on the evening when his lazy pass to Pastrnak was picked off by Bastian en route to a breakaway tally — but a majority of Boston’s blueliners were hampered all night when it came to connecting on passes and keeping the Devils to the outside. They’ll need a cleaner performance against teams that boast more firepower moving forward.  

Bergeron Line: Bruce Cassidy noted postgame that tonight was a game in which some of Boston’s “top guys” weren’t able to make much of an impact. Granted, one can’t expect the top line to bury goals night in and night out, but tonight was perhaps the first real “underwhelming” showing that we’ve seen from the Marchand-Bergeron-Smith configuration. 

LOOSE PUCKS

Oskar Steen looks like he belongs

Yes, once he clears COVID protocols, it’s to be expected that Jake DeBrusk will slot back into his spot on the third line — with Boston looking to try to raise his stock even more before an eventual trade is struck.

But when it comes to taking the long view of what this roster might look like once DeBrusk is eventually moved, I’m sure the Bruins’ concerns about that third line might be assuaged upon looking at how Steen fit in with Foligno and Coyle.

Yes, it’s just one game, but Steen didn’t look out of place on that line — complimenting some of the puck-possession prowess that Coyle brings by hovering around Grade-A ice. 

If Boston is confident that a guy like Steen could be an internal option to pick up some of the scoring slack on that third line, perhaps DeBrusk could be used as a piece in a move to acquire a D-man or tp-six pivot, as opposed to another middle-six winger. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

One of the oddest first career tallies up in the NHL ranks … but a goal’s a goal, right? 

PARTING THOUGHTS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out their brief two-game homestand on Thursday night when they play host to the Minnesota Wild. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.