Playing their first home game in 21 days and their only one on Causeway St. in the month of February, the Boston Bruins fell to the New Jersey Devils 3-2 Thursday night. It was the second consecutive regulation loss for the Bruins which failed to pick up a point in the standings for the first time this season in back-to-back games.
Here is a look back at Boston’s latest loss to the Devils with some the good and bad as the Bruins dropped to 10-3-2 on the season.
The Good
- Coming into the game, all the talk was surrounding the line changes that coach Bruce Cassidy made this week in practice. He moved Jake DeBrusk up to the first line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron while sliding David Pastrnak down to the second line with David Krejci and Nick Ritchie. While the move did not produce any offense 5-on-5, DeBrusk scored his first goal of the season in the second period on the power play. Here’s hoping that goal gets the left wing going.
- Anders Bjork could be fighting for his roster once the Bruins get healthy (if that ever happens), but the 24-year-old is in one of his better stretches of the season. He failed to register a point, but the bottom-six forward one was of the few Bruins who had energy in the game and was relentless the forecheck. He set up Sean Kuraly with Boston’s best scoring opportunity in the third period when they broke in 2-on-1, but Devils’ goalie Mackenzie Blackwood stopped Kuraly’s bid with a pad save. What does it say when Bjork is one of the best forwards in a game for the Bruins?
- The special teams once again carried the Bruins, but it was not enough to get a win. They killed all four of the Devils’ power play opportunities, and the power play accounted for both Bruins’ goals. Charlie McAvoy tipped in a Pastrnak shot from the point with just over a minute left the game for the second man-advantage goal after DeBrusk’s second period tally.