The New Jersey Devils (50-22-8) fell 2-1 to the Boston Bruins (62-12-5) on Saturday night. New Jersey failed to capitalize on Carolina’s loss earlier in the day, remaining one point out of first place having played one more game than the Hurricanes.
Meanwhile, Jack Hughes picked up an assist to tie Patrik Elias’ single-season points record of 96. The Bruins also swept the season series from the Devils with the win.
Game Summary
First Period
It was a quick start to this one with Boston gaining the early upper hand. Ryan Graves took an interference call just a minute in and the Bruins had an early man-advantage. Boston’s power play fired shot after shot on Mackenzie Blackwood, and the pressure paid off. Former Devil Pavel Zacha was left alone in front and redirected a Hampus Lindholm point shot home to open the scoring two minutes in.
The Bruins seized all momentum after the goal and just three minutes later, Zacha found the scoresheet again. After a David Pastrnak one-timer whistled wide, Zacha buried the carom off the endboards, stashing it through a scrambling Blackwood. It was 2-0 Boston before the Devils could generate any real Grade-A looks.
The Devils finally gained a foothold after Zacha’s second, and a response came shortly after. Jack Hughes carried the puck across the Bruins blue line and slipped in Jesper Bratt who went backhand-forehand to beat Linus Ullmark, halving the deficit with over 13 minutes still to go in the first. With the assist on Bratt’s 32nd goal, Hughes picked up his franchise record-tying 96th point.
Neither team could light the lamp again in the first period, though, and the horn sounded with Boston up 2-1. Shots were 22-10 in favor of the Bruins, which was tied for the most shots New Jersey had allowed in a single period all season.
At five-on-five, the Bruins dominated play with a 65.00 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 70.16 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%).
Second Period
The second period began fairly open with rush chances both ways. First, Jack Hughes had a breakaway from the blue line, but was stopped twice by Ullmark. The Swedish netminder also turned aside a Yegor Sharangovich rebound attempt for good measure.
Then, the game shifted to four-on-four play after Timo Meier and Dmitry Orlov took coincidental minors, but neither team could find a goal. However, the game stayed a bit more open as the game shifted back to five-on-five. David Pastrnak had a breakaway of his own, but Mackenzie Blackwood stood tall. The 26-year-old Canadian made a pair of pad saves to keep the 57-goal man off the scoreboard.
New Jersey eventually ended up on their first power play midway through the frame after Charlie McAvoy was called for cross-checking. However, the Bruins league-leading penalty kill was up to the task, killing the penalty relatively easily.
Then, in the final seconds of the period, McAvoy took a double minor high-sticking penalty, giving the Devils over three-and-a-half minutes of carryover power play time in the third.
After two, shots were 11-10 in favor of New Jersey, but the Bruins controlled the play in the second period at five-on-five, posting a 54.55 CF% and a 64.66 xGF%.
Third Period
Boston began the final frame on an extended penalty kill, but the league’s best penalty-killing unit was more than up to the challenge. The Devils had plenty of difficulty just getting set up in the offensive zone. The best looks fell to Bratt and Palat from the bottom of the circle, but Ullmark denied Bratt while Ondrej Palat missed the net.
After the double minor was killed off, Boston regained steady footing and began to stifle the Devils in the neutral zone. Charlie Coyle had a two-on-one shortly after the double minor that Blackwood shut down with the glove.
In the final 10 minutes, the Devils tried to push for an equalizer, but struggled to carve out space in the slot. Timo Meier had the best chance for New Jersey. However, Ullmark denied his drive to the net with a glove save.
New Jersey thought they had one last power play with two minutes to go after Brad Marchand hit Michael McLeod high. After conversation, though, the officials made no call.
Head coach Lindy Ruff got Mackenzie Blackwood to the bench with just under two minutes to play, but New Jersey struggled to set up offensively. David Pastrnak tried to finish the game off with an empty netter, but was unable to do so after Nico Hischier blocked a wraparound right on the goal line.
Timo Meier crunched Pastrnak along the boards as time expired, igniting a scuffle, but the game had come to an end with Boston victorious, 2-1.
In the third, shots were 9-8 NJ with Boston posting a 65.38 CF% and a 49.20 xGF% at five-on-five.
Wrap-Up
It was a quiet night for New Jersey offensively, but Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat picked up assists on Jesper Bratt’s lone tally.
Mackenzie Blackwood was solid in the loss, stopping 38 of 40 shots and turning aside 1.65 goals above expected.
For the game, the Bruins outshot NJ 40-30 and owned a 61.62 CF% and a 62.68% xGF% at five-on-five.
Game Notes
Lonely Night for the Hughes Line
In the loss, the Devils only had one forward line clicking. The trio of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Ondrej Palat had a 56.18 xGF% and a 2-1 edge in high-danger chances at five-on-five. They also all picked up points on New Jersey’s only goal.
Now, that performance isn’t anything too spectacular, but they were far and away the Devils’ best forward line on Saturday. Of the other New Jersey lines to play at least three minutes together of five-on-five ice time, the highest xGF% came from the Yegor Sharangovich, Jesper Boqvist, and Timo Meier line which posted a 25.81 xGF% and surrendered a 5-1 high-danger chances disadvantage. The other two starting forward units finished below a 20.00 xGF%.
The “BMW” fourth line of Nathan Bastian, Michael McLeod, and Miles Wood had a particularly rough night. The trio had just a 13.24 xGF% and a 25.00 HDCF% at five-on-five. Individually, Bastian and Wood had the lowest xGF% of any Devils skaters with an abysmal 11.39 xGF% and a 9.90 xGF%, respectively.
Tough Night for Jonas Siegenthaler
It was a tough night up front for the Devils’ forwards, but the same can be said about Jonas Siegenthaler on the backend. The Swiss defensemen drew back into the lineup for Brendan Smith after being scratched on Thursday, and he did not follow it up with a performance to write home about.
In 17 minutes of five-on-five ice time, Siegenthaler posted a 17.65 CF% and a brutal 13.96 xGF%, by far the worst numbers of any Devils’ defenseman in the loss. Scoring chances were 15-3 Boston with Siegenthaler on the ice and high-danger chances were 5-2 in Boston’s favor.
This game was certainly an aberration for Siegenthaler who has a 53.29 CF% and a 55.25% xGF% at five-on-five this year. However, New Jersey needs him to get back to that form with just two games to go in the regular season.
Special Teams Make the Difference
For as much as Boston dominated at even strength (62.68 xGF%), the difference in this game came down to special teams. The Bruins went 1-for-1 on the power play while the Devils went 0-for-3.
Digging deeper, Boston scored just 56 seconds into their only man advantage. In that time, the Bruins generated 0.50 expected goals and created three scoring chances, two of which were high-danger. Just watching the game, it was obvious the Bruins had the Devils’ penalty killers stretched out and chasing the play.
Meanwhile, in six minutes of power play time, the Devils generated just 0.51 expected goals and two high-danger scoring chances of their own. The Devils’ power play spent much of that time just trying to get set up offensively. Against a much, much weaker Columbus penalty kill on Thursday, the Devils generated 0.92 expected goals and four high-danger chances in just 3:38 of power play time.
It’s hard to be too critical of the Devils’ power play which faced the NHL’s top penalty kill, though. Boston entered the night at 87.1% on the kill, tops in the league by over three percentage points. The Bruins have now killed off 34 straight penalties. On top of that, the Devils man advantage had connected on seven of their last 20 opportunities before Saturday.
However, it is a good reminder that in games that are tight on the scoreboard, special teams will make the difference. With the playoffs starting in just over a week, a timely power play goal can be the deciding factor in a game, or even an entire series.
What’s Next?
The Devils head back to New Jersey for their home finale against the Sabres on Tuesday. MSGSN will have coverage with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.