Final, Bruins 4-3: The Devils applied some serious pressure late. They had an opportunity on a wraparound, and sent a number of pucks through the crease. But the Kelly line was able to withstand the pressure, and eventually get the puck out of the zone to preserve the victory.
Third Period: 16:59, Bruins 4-3: Benoit Pouliot, welcome to Boston! Pouliot, of course, scored a goal last week for the B's, his first in the uniform, but this one is huge. Pouliot knocked home a puck in traffic to give the Bruins the 4-3 advantage. Joe Corvo and Peverley are credited with the assists. And the Garden is officially rocking, as the Bruins look to hang onto this lead.
Third Period, 16:31, 3-3: Again, Hedberg forced to lay down in order to cover the puck. Chris Kelly teed up a nice pass from Peverley. It hit Hedberg and fell behind him, at which point Peverley tried to knock it home. Hedberg was able to reel it in for a whistle, though, and we remain tied at 3.
Third Period, 15:55, 3-3: The Bruins had a couple more scoring chances, drawing "oohs" and "ahhs" from the Garden faithful, but Hedberg was able to cover it up to get the faceoff. The Devils just did the same down the other end, jamming away as Thomas tried to corral the puck, but their bid was also denied in the end.
Third Period, 12:04, 3-3: The B's nearly took another lead, but Johan Hedberg made sure we remained deadlocked. Nathan Horton had an excellent opportunity off a David Krejci rebound, but Hedberg was there for an impressive stop.
Third Period, 6:56, 3-3: Nick Palmieri does it again here in the third period, tying up the game for New Jersey. Tim Thomas was down and out, allowing Palmieri to go top shelf for the equalizer. The assists are credited to Zach Parise and Adam Henrique. The goal s Palmieri's second this period and of the game, as he answered for the Devils shortly after Marchand's goal earlier in the period.
Third Period, 3:40, Bruins 3-2: Shawn Thornton's first goal of the season gives the Bruins a 3-2 lead just after New Jersey's Nick Palmieri tied it at 2. Gregory Campbell also picked up his second assist of the night.
Third Period, 2:08, 2-2: Well, that didn't last long. Nick Palmieri ties it up for the Devils just 2:02 after Marchand's goal. The assist goes to Andy Greene.
Third Period, 0:06, Bruins 2-1: Just six seconds into the opening period, Brad Marchand puts the Bruins on top.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins will need a big third period to maintain their six-goal average during this win streak, but they'll settle for a sixth-straight win no matter what the score as they are deadlocked with the Devils 1-1 after two periods.
The Bruins continue to set the tone physically with a 26-16 edge in hits. But Boston has also gotten into penalty trouble with that physical play, with New Jersey scoring its only goal on a two-man advantage. That snapped an 0-for-22 drought on the power play for the Devils.
The Bruins did answer right back with a great hustle play by Gregory Campbell setting up Chris Kelly for the equalizer. Claude Julien shuffled his lines a bit after Brad Marchand took an undisciplined roughing penalty leading to New Jersey's goal. Benoit Pouliot moved into Marchand's spot on the second line and campbell slide up to the third line with Kelly and Rich Peverley.
Patrice Bergeron continues to do a little bit of everything. he has two shots and four hits and is 16-5 on faceoffs. Overall, the Bruins have won 59 percent of the draws, but the rest of the team is 8-12 and only campbell has a winning record at 4-3.
I'll be handing off the live blogging duties for the third period, but you'll be in good hands with Ricky Doyle taking the reins.
End Second Period, 1-1: The Bruins nearly net the go-ahead goal in a wild scramble in the New Jersey crease in the closing seconds, but the middle frame comes to a close with the game still deadlocked at 1-1.
Second Period, 19:15, 1-1: The Bruins can't convert that chance despite back-to-back bids by Seguin and Peverley from the left side and the sides are back to even strength in the final minute of the second.
Second Period, 17:15, 1-1: The Bruins get a power-play chance as Zach Parise is called for tripping, with a little help from Joe Corvo, who definitely sold the call.
Second Period, 14:52, 1-1: The Bruins have tied it up, with Chris Kelly scoring after a hustle play by Gregory Campbell.
Campbell stole the puck from hedberg behind the net and got it out frnt to Kelly, who banged it home to pull the Bruins even.
Second Period, 14:00, Devils 1-0: Benoit Pouliot is now skating with Bergeron Seguin on the second line. Marchand appears to have been benched for the penalty he took.
Second Period, 10:46, Devils 1-0: The Devils finally convert on the power play with david Clarkson scoring on the two-man advantage.
Clarkson one-timed a pass from the left circle off a feed from Petr Sykora. Clarkson's shot just trickled through Thomas' pads for the first goal of the game.
Second Period, 10:28, 0-0: The Bruins could be in trouble here, even against the Devils' power play. New jersey has a two-man advantage for the next 39 seconds as Johnny Boychuk is called for delay of game for chipping the puck over the glass.
Second Period, 9:07, 0-0: The Bruins go down a man once again. This time its Brad Marchand heading to the box for roughing after getting tangled up with Adam Henrique.
Second Period, 6:26, 0-0: The Bruins answer with a threat of their own, as Tyler Seguin sends a crossing pass over to Brad Marchand at the left post, but Marchand can't get the shot on net.
Second Period, 5:32, 0-0: The Devils with a serious threat as Mattias Tedenby leads a 2-on-1 break down the right wing. He takes teh shot, but Thomas flashes out the pad for the stop. Thomas did have to take a peak behind him though as that one nearly snuck through.
Second Period, 1:51, 0-0: The Bruins kill that penalty off as well. the Devils are 0 for 3 on the man advantage in this one and now 0 for 22 over their last six games.
Second Period, 1:51, 0-0: The Bruins are shorthanded again early in the second, as Rich Peverley heads to the box this time for hooking.
Second Period, 0:00, 0-0: The middle frame is under way here at the Garden, with the Bruins and Devils still looking to break a scoreless stalemate.
First Intermission Notes: No scoring in that opening period, but plenty of action. The Bruins set the tone with their physical play and are outhitting the Devils 16-7.
Zdeno Chara has three of those hits, but was also on the receiving end of a couple of big runs by New Jersey tough guy Cam janssen, who toppled the big guy with one huge hit. Chara also has three shots to lead the Bruins while playing 10:46. The Devils hold a 12-8 advantage in shots overall.
Patrice Bergeron and Greg Campbell are continuing their strong work on faceoffs. Bergeron is 5-2 on draws so far, while Campbell is 3-1. The rest of the Bruins are a combined 0-4.
Shawn Thornton appeared to challenge Janssen a couple times on a later shift after his runs at Chara. Janssen didn't drop the gloves, but the first challenge looked like it distracted Janssen just a bit as he had a chance at joining a potential odd-man rush.
End First Period, 0-0: It's a scoreless stalemate after 20 minutes at the Garden, where Tim Thomas and Johan Hedberg are pitching dueling shutouts so far.
First Period, 17:50, 0-0: The devils with some nice passing in the Bruins zone, which leads to a chance for Andy Greene from the high slot, but Thomas snares the defenseman's bid.
First Period, 14:28, 0-0: The penalties have all expired and the sides are back at even strength in this scoreless stalemate. Devils had an 8-3 edge in shots so far.
First Period, 12:28, 0-0: The Bruins even that one up as Brad Marchand is called for goalie interference. You knew they'd be one of those penalties in this one didn't you?
It's 4 on 4 for 53 seconds, then the Devils get a brief power play.
First Period, 11:20, 0-0: The Bruins get their first power-play chance of the night as Anton Volchenkov is sent to the box for tripping.
First Period, 9:36, 0-0: Good pace to this one, but no scoring yet. The Devils have a 6-2 edge in shots, but both teams have had time in the other's zone.
First Period, 5:24, 0-0: The hitting picks up, with Zdeno Chara nailing Brad Mills, then Cam Janssen delivering a huge shot to topple Chara in the corner.
First Period, 2:18, 0-0: The Bruins kill off the penalty, but it was still an eventful power play. Adam McQuaid and Dennis Seidenberg tangled with Dainius Zubrus and Adam Henrique in a scrum in front of the net and Brad Marchand nearly scored shorthanded, but was denied on a backhand bid in front.
First Period, 0:18, 0-0: That didn't take long, as the Bruins are alread shorthanded with Tyler Seguin sent to the box for hooking. New Jersey is 0 for 19 on the power play in its last five games.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And this one is under way at the Garden, where the Bruins will look to extend their win streak to six games.
A victory for Boston coupled with an Ottawa loss in Calgary would put the Bruins in a playoff position in the East. Quite a rise from their October struggles.
7 p.m.: Ilya Kovalchuk is a scratch for the Devils, along with Mark Fraser and Rod Pelley.
Andrew Ference and Daniel Paille are officially out for the Bruins.
6:45 p.m.: As expected, Daniel Paille and Andrew Ference did not skate in warm-ups for the Bruins and will be out again for this one.
Here's the breakdown of the line combinations from warmups:
Lucic-Krejci-Horton'
Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin
Pouliot-Kelly-Peverley
Caron-Campbell-Thornton
Defense pairs:
Chara-Boychuk
Seidenberg-Corvo
Kampfer-McQuaid
6:30 p.m.: Tim Thomas leads the Bruins out for warm-ups. He gets the call in net for this one.
Johan Hedberg in goal for New Jersey as expected.
6:15 p.m.: While the Devils await final word on Ilya Kovalchuk's status for this game, the Bruins know they will be without Andrew Ference and Daniel Paille.
Ference did skate for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury last Thursday against Edmonton, going on the ice on his own before the club's morning skate.
Daniel Paille joined the team for the morning skate and continues to progress in his recovery after surgery for his broken nose. He won't play in this one, but hopes to return on Thursday.
6 p.m.: The Bruins and Devils will face off for the first time this season in just about an hour.
New Jersey is unlikely to have Ilya Kovalchuk for this game. He's missed the last four games with a groin injury, but did talk coach Peter DeBoer into at least letting him test the injury in the pre-game skate, so there's a slim chance he could return for this one.
Johan Hedberg is expected to get the start in goal over Martin brodeur, while the Bruins didn't tip their hand this morning on their netminding choice. we'll have to wait until warm-ups to see if Tim Thomas or Tuukka Rask leads the team out.
8 a.m. ET: The Bruins will look for their sixth straight win after averaging six goals a night in the first five games of this run. And when you're stringing sixes together, who's better to play than the Devils?
New Jersey comes to the Garden on Tuesday having won four of its last five games, including a 3-2 shootout win over Washington on Saturday after rallying from two goals down. Going beyond regulation is nothing new to the Devils, who have gotten five of their eight wins in overtime or shootouts this year, with a 4-1 mark in shootouts.
New Jersey has been forced to play all that extra hockey in part because of its lack of offense. The Devils have just 33 goals in 15 games this season. The Bruins have 30 goals in their last five games.
The Devils' recent success has come despite a power play that even the Bruins can scoff at. New Jersey ranks 29th in the league at 10 percent (5-for-50) and is 0-for-19 over the last five games. That might bode well for the Bruins, who lead the league in penalty minutes per game (17.2).
Milan Lucic is responsible for 24 of those PIMs so far despite not yet dropping the gloves this season. He was never challenged to on Saturday after steamrolling Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller, and Lucic will be in the lineup on Tuesday as he was not suspended for the incident after a hearing with league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan on Monday.
Ilya Kovalchuk may not be in the lineup for the Devils. He's missed the last four games with a groin injury, but was scheduled to accompany the team to Boston and could return on Tuesday.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here for updates on all the action from the Garden.
