Brad Marchand tallied a goal and an assist, then sealed the game by scoring the lone goal in the shootout as the Boston Bruins edged the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Thursday night, spoiling Lindy Ruff’s debut as the Devils’ head coach.
Marchand netted a power-play goal and assisted on another by Nick Ritchie, helping the Bruins kick off their season with a win after claiming the Presidents’ Trophy last season for the NHL’s best regular-season record. Tuukka Rask was stellar in goal, making 20 saves, including two crucial stops in overtime, and shutting down both shootout attempts he faced.
Miles Wood and rookie defenseman Ty Smith scored for New Jersey, which missed the playoffs last season. Mackenzie Blackwood impressed with 35 saves, and he also stopped shootout attempts from Charlie Coyle and Ondrej Kase.
Marchand acknowledged the challenge of competing in a tough division this season. “It’s probably how the rest of the season is going to go; every team is competitive now and any team can win on any night,” he said. “We’ve got a really tough division, and it’s going to be a battle in every game.”
The two teams will meet again in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon.
Ruff was encouraged by his young team’s performance, particularly after a shaky first period where Boston outshot New Jersey 16-4. “We were determined to get back in the game,” said Ruff, who spent the last three years as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers after 19 seasons as an NHL head coach. “If you look at the overtime, we had the better chances to win it. If we compete that hard and skate as well as we did in the second and third, we will be OK.”
Rask denied shootout attempts from Nikita Gusev and Jesper Boqvist, while Jack Hughes could not get a shot off.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy praised Rask’s performance. “I was glad to see him win,” Cassidy said. “We don’t score a lot for him in the shootout, so good for (Marchand) to come through. But I thought he looked in midseason form and did not look like he was fighting it or not tracking it.”
Rask, who left the Bruins during last season’s playoffs due to his daughter’s illness, made key saves on breakaways by Kyle Palmieri and Hughes in overtime.
The Devils fought back twice in the third period to tie the game, with goals from Wood and Smith, who scored in his NHL debut.
Smith’s goal, which deflected off Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, tied the game with 6:14 left in regulation, just 34 seconds after Ritchie had given Boston a 2-1 lead.
Marchand had earlier put Boston ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal at 17:40 of the first period.
Wood tied the game with 11:09 remaining in regulation on a breakaway.
Both of Boston’s goals came on power plays following penalties on Wood for goaltender interference.
“Those two calls on me were extremely selfish,” Wood said. “I’ll blame me—that shouldn’t happen.”
NOTES
New Captain: Patrice Bergeron donned the captain’s “C” for the Bruins, taking over from Zdeno Chara, who had captained the team for 14 seasons before signing with Washington.
Miller Returns: Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller played in an NHL game for the first time since breaking his kneecap against Minnesota on April 4, 2019. The 33-year-old was paired with rookie Jakub Zboril, playing in his third career game.
New Faces: Ty Smith and forward Egor Sharangovich made their NHL debuts for the Devils. Meanwhile, the Bruins debuted taxi squad members, Trent Frederic and Jack Studnicka, with David Pastrnak (shoulder/hip) and free-agent signee Craig Smith (back) sidelined. Nico Hischier was out with a lower-body injury for the Devils.
Long Layoff: The Devils were one of seven teams that missed the playoffs last season after the March pause. They played their first game since March 10.
