Bruins End Two Years of Frustration With Win Over Devils

I can’t believe I’m typing this, but the Boston Bruins began the 2021 season with a……… shoutout victory????

Say it ain’t so. The Boston Bruins began the 2021 season Thursday night, Jan. 14, in Newark, New Jersey against the Devils and they did something they have not done in 23 months, they won a game in a shootout.

Last season, the Bruins were the only team in the NHL to have 100 points in the 70-game shortened regular-season. What made the feat even more impressive was that they did it going winless in seven shootouts.

They won’t go winless this season as goalie Tuukka Rask and Brad Marchand made sure that Boston got their first shootout win of the year out of the way early.

After blowing two one-goal leads in regulation, Rask stood on his head in overtime making saves on Devils’ young stud Jack Hughes and Kyle Palmieri on breakaways and then robbing Egor Sharangovich in the slot with a glove save forcing the shootout.

Rask came up big again in the shootout. He stopped Nikita Gusev, Jesper Boqvist, and Hughes once again on New Jersey’s three attempts. Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was up to the challenge against the Bruins, but came up one save short.

After stopping Charlie Coyle and Ondrej Kase in the Black and Gold’s first two attempts, Marchand ended nearly two years of frustrating for the Bruins in shootouts when he was able to slide the puck along the ice between Blackwood’s pads for the victory.

The last time that the Bruins celebrated a shootout victory was on Feb. 20, 2019 when they beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-2, on the road when old friend David Backes scored the game-winning goal in the shootout. This victory was a long time coming to say the least.

This season is very different in so many ways from a normal NHL season, but the biggest change is with the new realigned divisions. The Bruins are in one of the toughest divisions in the East Division and will play each opponent eight times.

The Devils are a team still rebuilding and securing every point against them will be vital for the Bruins at the end of the season when just the top four teams in the division make the playoffs. For one night, the Bruins got the valuable extra point and will look to grab two more against New Jersey Saturday afternoon to close the season-opening, two-game series in the Garden State before heading to New York to play the Islanders.