The Devils may not have the star power of the Oilers and expectations may not have been too high for them going into the season, but that didn’t mean they were going to be an easy opponent for the Bruins to bounce back against.
The Devils have actually been playing pretty good hockey this season despite not having Jack Hughes for much of it. They entered Saturday’s matinee game against the Bruins tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference on points percentage and just beat the Panthers and Islanders by a combined score of 11-3 this week.
But the Bruins desperately needed a bounce-back performance after Thursday’s loss to the Oilers, a winnable game that they choked away with some brutal defensive mistakes in the third period. They also desperately needed a win on the road, where they were just 1-4-0 entering Saturday.
And they got it. Brad Marchand scored twice and Erik Haula scored his first goal as a Bruin in a 5-2 win over New Jersey that was exactly what Boston needed. Beyond the score, the Bruins played the way they needed to play most of the afternoon, controlling play for stretches and executing much better in transition.
The Bruins didn’t actually start the game particularly well. Brandon Carlo, whose turnover led to the tying goal on Thursday, committed another bad turnover early in this one that led to a breakaway for Pavel Zacha. Fortunately, Jeremy Swayman bailed him out. Then Swayman had a brain fart of his own, touching the puck outside the trapezoid to negate the rest of a Bruins power play. Connor Clifton also took a bad interference penalty.
But the Bruins eventually settled down and took a 1-0 lead late in the first thanks to some much-needed secondary scoring. Karson Kuhlman picked off a pass in the neutral zone and led the rush the other way. He set up Anton Blidh in the slot for a shot that produced a juicy rebound for Haula -- fresh off the bench -- to bury.
Perhaps no player has been more emblematic of the Bruins’ offensive depth issues than Haula, the third-line center (actually dropped down to the fourth line Saturday) signed as a free agent who had just one point through 10 games. Needless to say, this was a big one for him individually and for the Bruins’ bottom six forwards in general.
The Bruins made it 2-0 on the power play early in the second. The new-look top unit, with Nick Foligno replacing Taylor Hall in the net-front spot, created some good looks, including a chance for Foligno right in front set up by Marchand. In the closing seconds of their shift, with Foligno already changed off for Charlie Coyle, they finally scored when Marchand wheeled into the high slot and beat Jonathan Bernier through a double screen set by Coyle and Patrice Bergeron.
As has been the case too often this season, the Bruins gave up a goal right after scoring, although this one was a bit fluky. Jake DeBrusk collided with a Devil in the neutral zone and wound up having a pass bounce off him and set up a New Jersey rush the other way that ended with a goal from Dawson Mercer.
Marchand struck again to restore the two-goal lead just two minutes later, though. Right after Swayman turned aside a Tomas Tatar shot off the rush, the Bruins capitalized on the counter rush, with Marchand carrying into the zone and setting up David Pastrnak for a one-timer, Charlie McAvoy tying up a defender with a good net drive, and Marchand burying the rebound for his 11th point (4 goals, 7 assists) in the last six games.
There would be one more test the Bruins would have to overcome, and it would again be the product of bad luck more than anything. Coyle tried to play the puck behind his own net to his wing on the other side, but it instead hit a ref who was too slow to get out of the way and bounced right into the slot, where Mercer then slid it over to Jesper Bratt to cut the Bruins’ lead to 3-2.
The Bruins weren’t going to collapse in this third period, though. They came out strong, registering five of the first six shots on goal in the period. Then the Devils made their push, pinning the Bruins in their own zone for nearly two minutes straight at one point.
But the Bruins held their ground, Swayman made a couple good saves when called upon, and then the big guns sealed the win with 9:11 to go. McAvoy made a big shot block at one end, setting up Pastrnak to lead the rush the other way. Pastrnak then weaved through the offensive zone and drove hard to the net, with Taylor Hall’s own net drive opening up some space. Pastrnak’s attempt settled in the crease behind Bernier, but Bergeron was right there to poke it home. With a goal and an assist in the game, Bergeron now has 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists) in his last five games.
Jake DeBrusk tacked on a late empty-netter for his third goal of the season. The Bruins now have another quick turnaround, as they host the Canadiens at TD Garden Sunday night.