Pavel Zacha scored his second goal of the night at 2:42 of overtime, securing a 4-3 victory for the New Jersey Devils and ending the Boston Bruins’ four-game winning streak on Tuesday night.
Jesper Boqvist and Yegor Sharangovich also found the net for New Jersey, which wrapped up its home season with a 7-18-3 record. Mackenzie Blackwood was solid in goal, making 33 saves and extending his personal winning streak to four games.
“This is exactly what we wanted,” Zacha said, finishing the home season with a win. “We kept playing hard until the end, and even when they scored, we didn’t stop. It feels great to get this win at home.”
Patrice Bergeron, Taylor Hall, and Sean Kuraly scored for the Bruins, who twice lost one-goal leads in the third period. Jaroslav Halak, making his first start in over a month, recorded 17 saves as Boston fell to 10-2-1 in its last 13 games.
“We need to close out games better,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after the loss, noting that the team had dropped points for only the third time this season (22-0-3) when leading after two periods.
Zacha’s game-winner came with a delayed penalty against Boston. The Devils managed to get an extra skater on the ice, controlled the puck for about 30 seconds, and Zacha eventually buried a backhand shot past Halak for his career-high 15th goal of the season.
The third period was a rollercoaster, with the Devils twice coming from behind to tie the game. Sharangovich leveled the score at 3-3 at 12:41 of the period with a shot from the right circle after eluding Bruins defenseman Mike Reilly.
Kuraly had given Boston a 3-2 lead when David Pastrnak’s pass deflected off his skate into the net just a minute after Boqvist had tied the game 2-2 with a close-range rebound at 9:10.
“We wanted to give our fans something positive, and I told the team after the second period that it would be great to get a win,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “We started putting more pucks on net, and I thought we did a much better job in the third period.”
Bergeron now has goals in three consecutive games, and Hall, the former league MVP with New Jersey, erased a 1-0 deficit with second-period goals. Zacha had opened the scoring for the Devils on a power play after Boston took three straight penalties in the first period.
SCARY MOMENTS
Bruins’ top scorer Brad Marchand and Devils center Jack Hughes, the first overall pick in the 2019 draft, both had scary moments in the second period, going head-first into the boards. Marchand quickly returned to the game, while Hughes missed the final 1:45 of the period but returned for the third.
“I’m feeling good, lucky it wasn’t anything serious,” Hughes said. “Glad I was able to get back out there.”
CARLO RETURNS
Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo returned to action after missing 18 games with an upper-body injury. Carlo had missed 10 games due to a concussion after a hit from Washington’s Tom Wilson on March 5, then sustained a second injury on April 1.
“I felt like I was seeing the play well,” Carlo said. “Getting my foot speed back will take some time, but overall, I didn’t feel too far off.”
Game Notes
Devils forward Miles Wood and Bruins forward Charlie Coyle both missed the third period due to undisclosed injuries. Devils rookie defenseman Ty Smith aggravated an injury on Monday and was sidelined, with veteran Matt Tennyson taking his place. Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, who missed the last seven games due to COVID-19, has started skating with the team. Fellow defenseman P.K. Subban has missed the past nine games due to the virus. Bruins forward Trent Frederic appeared in the lineup for the third time since April 6.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Head home to face the Rangers on Thursday and Saturday.
Devils: Visit the Islanders on Thursday for a season-ending three-game road trip.
