David Pastrnak scored twice in the second period, and linemates David Krejci and Pavel Zacha each had two assists as the Boston Bruins defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Friday night.
Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk also scored for the Bruins, while Linus Ullmark made 36 saves, earning his NHL-leading 19th win. Boston, which leads the league with 56 points, has now won four straight games.
“We got to how we want to play pretty quickly,” said Bruins first-year coach Jim Montgomery. After 10 games, I think we were there, and I think the confidence has just grown. I think we’re just deep, and we can come at people wave after wave.”
Jack Hughes, Tomas Tatar, and Yegor Sharangovich scored for New Jersey. Mackenzie Blackwood made 14 saves before being pulled after two periods. The Devils have lost seven of their last eight games (1-6-1) and are 3-6-2 in December.
“We made some mistakes, they made some good plays,” Blackwood said. “I screwed up a little bit, so just a combination of everything.”
Boston improved to 9-4-1 when allowing the first goal, the best mark in the NHL, and won despite conceding the opening score for the second consecutive night.
“I think obviously teams are ready for us; they’re going to come to play their best games,” DeBrusk said. “We obviously want to score the first goal of the game. Our record is pretty good when we score first, so it’s one of those things where we want to do that, but we understand we can come back, and it’s about making adjustments and getting to our game.”
The Bruins struck for three goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period, with Pastrnak scoring his 23rd and 24th goals of the season.
Bergeron tied the game with his 13th goal at 3:12, then Pastrnak gave Boston a 2-1 lead by putting the rebound of Krejci’s shot between Blackwood’s pads at 4:34.
“I’m just playing and having a lot of fun, and the puck is going in,” Pastrnak said. I’ve been shooting a lot. I think that’s big. So, I’m just happy that it’s going in.”
New Jersey had chances to score during that stretch, but Ullmark made key saves, including denying Nico Hischier on a 2-on-1 break and Tatar hitting the crossbar — one of two posts the Devils hit in the second.
“You look at the second period, and we probably had our best opportunities to score,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “Breakaway, 2-on-1, off the iron a couple of times. We don’t, and then we made a couple of big mistakes.”
Pastrnak made it 3-1 with a snapshot at 9:52. DeBrusk capped the second period with his 13th goal off a pass from Brad Marchand at 17:27.
“I just tried to get myself a little bit (of) space towards the net and knew I had to elevate (the puck),” DeBrusk said. “It was a great play by (Marchand). He passed it through a stick and it was a tap-in.”
Tatar and Sharangovich scored to cut Boston’s lead to 4-3, but Ullmark held off New Jersey, stopping 14 shots in the third.
Hughes scored his 18th goal at 16:36 of the first period.
New Jersey could have had a larger lead if not for Ullmark. He made 10 saves in the first period and stopped Miles Wood on a breakaway early in the second with the Devils up 1-0.
“He’s been outstanding,” Pastrnak said of Ullmark. “Obviously, he’s standing on his head, making big saves. We’re all very happy for him.”
Game Notes
- Hughes played in his 200th NHL game.
- Zacha, selected by New Jersey with the sixth pick of the 2015 NHL draft and played his first 386 games for the Devils, was honored with a tribute video during the first period.
- Nikita Okhotiuk recalled from Albany of the AHL, played his first NHL game of the season and had an assist. He filled in for injured defensemen Ryan Graves (lower body) and John Marino (upper body).
- Bruins forward A.J. Greer, who played 10 games for New Jersey from 2020-22, returned to the lineup after being scratched for three games and replaced Craig Smith.
UP NEXT
- Boston: At Ottawa on Tuesday.
- New Jersey: Hosts Boston again Wednesday after the holiday break.
