By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
The Boston Bruins hosted the New Jersey Devils tonight at TD Garden. Coming off a strong victory at home over the St. Louis Blues, Boston was looking to build some momentum before heading out on the road for their next three games, sitting with a 16-13-0 record before puck drop.
New Jersey came into tonight looking to snap a four-game losing streak. Their two most recent losses were both shutout losses, with their most recent coming against the Vegas Golden Knights. Their record coming into tonight was 16-11-1.
First Period
The first period was lopsided to say the least. New Jersey definitely held most of the momentum through the period, generating a number of solid chances, but unable to get past Jeremy Swayman, who had a couple of good saves early in the period. The Bruins were able to generate a couple of shots on goal, but overall, they were sloppy. Struggling to break out, struggling to get through the neutral zone, and not connecting on passes.
The Bruins and Devils were deadlocked until Boston’s Fraser Minten opened the scoring at 17:42. A strong forecheck by Mark Kastelic, winning a battle down low and feeding Minten, who was just outside of the slot, put one past Allen. It was Minten’s fourth of the season, and first goal since November 8th.
Their lead would prove to be short-lived, as New Jersey got one back quickly, with Timo Meier batting home a puck that Swayman wasn’t able to get a hold of. The tying goal came at 18:39, and would be the final tally of the period.
Second Period
The Bruins came out in the second period with a much better start than the first. While New Jersey held a good majority of the momentum, the Bruins were the ones who took the lead, thanks to none other than Morgan Geekie, who notched his 22nd of the season, and 32nd point (22-10-32). Elias Lindholm had the primary assist, following a great forecheck and pass, notching his fourth assist in two games.
The Devils would get the first man-advantage of the game, after Nikita Zadorov went to the box for two minutes for a cross-check on Nico Hischier. The Bruins successfully got the kill, and proved that their penalty-kill unit continues to be effective. Zadorov also had a couple of really solid scoring chances, with one of his shots ringing off the crossbar after getting past Jake Allen.
Third Period
The Bruins had another strong start when they came out for the third, and they were looking to build on their one-goal lead against New Jersey. Just 3:35 into the third period, a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal from the Bruins’ second line put them up 3-0. Viktor Arvidsson, from the slot, passed it to Pavel Zacha in the corner, who then fed it cross-ice to Casey Mittelstadt, who finished the play by finding the back of the net.
Almost the entire rest of the period would go scoreless, until New Jersey pulled Jake Allen for the extra attacker with just under three minutes remaining. It wouldn’t prove to be effective, as they were unable to generate any traction and Andrew Peeke got ahold of the puck in his own slot, and fired it up ice. The unassisted, empty-net goal would be the nail in the coffin, and would secure the Bruins a 4-1 victory on home ice, extending the Devil’s losing streak to five games.
Final Thoughts
While sloppy at times, this was a solid victory for the Bruins, especially being down both David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy. With points from nine different players, Geekie notching his 22nd on the season, and Jeremy Swayman with a strong performance, improving his statistics to 9-7-0, a 2.70 goals against average, and a .913 save percentage, the Bruins had a successful evening at the Garden.
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