FINAL: Bruins 5 , Devils 2 - Bruins score five unanswered, McAvoy leaves game

The Bruins defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Saturday night TD Garden. Boston scored five unanswered goals in the second period to help them overcome a 2-0 deficit. 

The Devils got on the board first at the 6:03 mark in the first period thanks to a Nico Hirschier goal on the power play. New Jersey scored five seconds into the man advantage. The Devils started by living in the Boston zone but the Bruins improved later in the period when they had multiple scoring chances. 

The Devils added to their lead 1:11 mark in the second period thanks to a goal from Luke Hughes. From there, the Bruins scored four unanswered goals. It started with an aggressive forecheck by Brad Marchand on Vitek Vanecek leading to a goal by Jake DeBrusk in front of the net to make it 2-1. After continuing to live in the New Jersey zone, David Pastrnak squeezed the puck past Vanecek after a shot by Brandon Carlo which tied it at two. Pastrnak scored again at the 15:39 mark, this time on the power play to give the B’s a 3-2 lead.

 Kevin Shattenkirk joined the party by scoring his 100th career goal at the 17:14 mark to extend Boston’s lead to 4-2 at the 2nd intermission.

The Bruins got off to a slow start in the third period as they were outshot 18-8. However, Shattenkirk gave Boston another insurance goal at the 16:49 mark which made it 5-2 Bruins.  Charlie McAvoy left the game towards the end of regulation when he dove into Linus Ullmark trying to stop a New Jersey rush. McAvoy was unable to put weight on his right foot, but Jim Montgomery said after the game that it is just a stinger and he was walking fine after the game. 

 Ullmark finished the night with 31 saves in net for Boston. 

The Bruins will be back in action in a back-to-back on Sunday when they visit Detroit to take on the Red Wings in an Original Six matchup with puck drop set for 5 p.m. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Bruins have now won two in a row. 
• Shattenkirk scored two goals tonight, with one of them being his 100th career goal. 
• Pastrnak scored two goals tonight. 
• DeBrusk scored his first goal in his last 12 games. DeBrusk continues to improve by making plays and recording points on his stat sheet. 
• B's got a scare with McAvoy leaving the game. Bruins dodged a bullet with it just being a stinger. 

____________________________________

WHO: Devils (19-13-2) at Bruins (20-7-6)
WHEN: 7 p.m. 
WHERE: TD Garden, Boston. 
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

BOSTON

 Marchand –  Coyle –  DeBrusk

 Zacha –  Geekie –  Pastrnak

 Van Riemsdyk –  Merkulov –  Frederic

 Heinen –  Beecher –  Lauko

 Lohrei –  McAvoy

 Lindholm –  Carlo

 Grzelcyk –  Shattenkirk

Ullmark
 Swayman

  DEVILS

Toffoli-Hughes-Bratt
Haula-Hischier-Palat
Meier-McLeod-Mercer
Holtz-Tierney-Bastian

Siegenthaler-Nemec
Hughes-Marino
Bahl-Smith

Vanecek
Daws

PREGAME NOTES

The Bruins return to TD Garden for a matchup with the New Jersey Devils with face off set for 7 p.m. Boston called up Georgii Merkulov from Providence and will make his NHL debut tonight, and the B's have sent down Patrick Brown to Providence. 

Matt Grzelcyk returns to the lineup tonight after missing the last three games with an upper-body injury. He'll skate alongside Kevin Shattenkirk on the third pairing, while Parker Wotherspoon will be a healthy scratch. 

The Devils enter on the second of a back-to-back, defeating the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Friday night. New Jersey is 19-13-2 for 40 points, which leaves them one point ahead of the Washington Capitals for the East's second Wild Card spot. The Devils have gone 4-2-1 since their 2-1 overtime victory versus Boston back on December 13th at the Prudential Center in Newark. 

Jack Hughes leads New Jersey with 43 points in 29 games, also leading the team with 15 goals along with Tyler Toffoli. Jesper Bratt sits behind Hughes with 42 points (14 goals and 28 assists), while Hughes' rookie brother Luke has a 6-14-20 line in 34 games. 

Former Boston forward Erik Haula is sixth on the Devils in scoring with 16 points (eight goals and eight assists in 29 games). 

New Jersey is ninth in the NHL is goals for (119) and 26th in goals against (116). While New Jersey is near the cellar in giving up goals, the Bruins will have their hands full tonight against a young and fast paced team that can score the puck. 

“They play fast, but I was impressed – they don’t give up much defensively,” Brad Marchand told reporters this morning. “They close really quickly in D-zone. They kind of swarm you and don’t give up much, at least that’s how it felt when we played them. You’ve got to compete for everything you get against this group. Expecting a good game," Marchand continued.