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Boston Bruins: 4 Takeaways From a 1-0 Loss to the Devils

By Scott Roche |
Mar 7, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New Jersey Devils center Pavel Zacha (37) is congratulated by right wing Kyle Palmieri (21), defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (70) after scoring the only goal of the game as Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (48) skates away during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New Jersey Devils center Pavel Zacha (37) is congratulated by right wing Kyle Palmieri (21), defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (70) after scoring the only goal of the game as Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (48) skates away during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Losers of five straight and eight of their last nine, the New Jersey Devils came into the TD Garden Sunday night and snapped their losing streak with a 1-0 win over the Boston Bruins. Forty-eight hours after blitzing the Washington Capitals, 5-1, the Black and Gold suffer a frustrating loss at the hands of the Devils, who fighting off the Buffalo Sabres for last place in the East Division.

Here are some takeaways from the Devils’ third win this season against the Bruins in four games and second in Boston.

  • The longer the game remained scoreless, the more evident that it was only going to take one goal to determine the outcome. That goal came off the stick of the Devils Kyle Palmieri who scored with 4:37 left in the game off a scramble in front of the Boston net when he flipped a loose puck over Tuukka Rask‘s shoulder.
  • Boston’s power play has become powerless the last two weeks and that hasn’t yielded good results. Sunday night against the NHL’s worst penalty-killing unit, they went 0-for-2 with five shots. Both opportunities came in the third period. They registered four of their five shots on the first man-advantage, but were unable to find the back of the net.
  • New Jersey improved to 6-2-1 on the road and Scott Wedgewood was the reason why. He stopped all 40 shots by Boston, including 18 in the third period. He stopped 12 shots in the first period and then10 in the second. He also got some help from his teammates, who blocked 13 shots themselves. David Pastrnak led the Bruins with 10 shots on the net.
  • It may be nothing, or it could very well be something, but there was a troublesome sign at the end of the game for the Bruins. When Rask was skating to the bench for the extra skater, he grabbed his back with his glove hand. There was a scrum in front of the net just before he went to the bench, so you have to wonder if he injured something then. The Bruins have been hit hard with injuries up and down their roster with their defensemen and forwards, but losing Rask for a substantial amount of time could be devastating.

The Bruins begin a grueling stretch of games Tuesday night with their fourth and final regular-season trip to Long Island to face the first-place New York Islanders. After that, they return home for two games against the all-of-a-sudden hot New York Rangers. Things are not going to be easy in the coming week for the B’s.

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