Writer’s Twitter = @ChrisMottHockey

Recap

The New Jersey Devils gave one of the best teams in the East a good fight for much of the game last night with the return of Pavel Zacha, but it was not enough. The Devils were home at the Prudential Center, and although the final score of the game was 5 to 1 Boston, it’s not indicative of the Devils effort, as the game was 3 to 1 with just under 2 two minutes left before Boston scored an empty net goal.

The Bruins jumped out to a 2 – 0 lead in the second period, but the Devils did answer with Drew Stafford scoring a goal to make the game 2 to 1. The Devils were unable to keep some of the big guns from Boston off the board, although Marchand did not score a goal. Patrice Bergeron scored twice and David Pastrnak scored once. Below will be some takeaways from this game and will also include a clip of the highlights.

Three Takeaways

Josh Jacobs had a decent debut. He was on the Devils’ third defense pairing with Yakovlev played well defensively most of the night. One aspect of his game that was most noticeable was his physicality and finishing his checks. The Devils are doing their homework and seeing what they have in the system and who is looking closer to being ready to play at an NHL level. There is the obvious fact that the Devils being decimated by injuries has also caused the need to call these young players up. But given the area of the Devils’ position in the standings, this would happen no matter what.

Defensive breakdowns were the Devils’ downfall last night. Bergeron opened the scoring because Pastrnak had the puck and he slid from the slot out a little bit to receive a back door pass. Every Devils’ player went to pressure Pastrnak and no one stayed with Bergeron, leaving him wide open. Another goal was also scored back door by Boston with a similar situation of the player being left open. Pastrnak scored off a faceoff play from a saucer pass from Marchand because no one tied up his stick or stuck with him. All of Boston’s goals aside from the empty netter were scored up close and not from the outside or the point. The Devils inability to stick with or tie up players defensively cost them the game last night.

Cory Schneider played great. There were times were Schneider was under siege by Boston, and he kept everything out. Tying into what was mentioned before about the breakdowns, here was how each goal was scored on Schneider, three back door passes and one redirect about three feet in front of him. There was not a goal that would be considered weak or something Schneider should have had. His play should help Devils fans become excited for next season with a healthy roster if he continues this play.

The Devils next game will be Saturday March 23 against the Arizona Coyotes at 1PM ET at the Prudential Center. Below are the final score and stats as well as highlights.

Final Score and Stats

Score: Devils 1 Bruins 5

Shots: Devils 23 Bruins 27

Power Plays: Devils 0 for 1 Bruins 0 for 3

Faceoffs: Devils 23 Bruins 28

Hits: Devils 26 Bruins 15