Final, Bruins 4-2: That’s it, and that’s all. The Bruins have won 10 straight.
The Devils had a couple of chances in the last minute or so, but it didn’t matter. The Bruins get out of town with the win, and they’re off until Friday in Colorado.
Third period, 19:47, Bruins 4-2: This one is all but over, but the Devils are getting a late power play. Kevan Miller was just called for tripping.
Third period, 17:45, Bruins 4-2: The New Jersey net is empty, as the Devils have brought on the extra attacker as they trail by two.
Third period, 16:00, Bruins 4-2: The Devils continue to get zone time, but the Bruins are packing it in and keeping New Jersey out of the slot.
Regardless, it’s beginning to look like playing a night ago might be catching up with the Bruins.
Third period, 12:29, Bruins 4-2: Boston was not able to score on the power play, but the Bruins had plenty of sustained offensive zone time.
That’s a good way to kill a little more than two minutes when you’re holding a two-goal lead.
Third period, 9:45, Bruins 4-2: The Bruins are going back on the power play.
Andy Greene just hooked Loui Eriksson as Eriksson had a chance in close after stealing the puck in the Devils’ zone. That was close to being in penalty shot territory.
Third period, 9:13, Bruins 4-2: This game is far from over.
Travis Zajac just got the Devils back within two, as he ripped a wrist shot by Chad Johnson, as the Bruins got caught in some real bad transitional defense.
Third period, 7:11, Bruins 4-1: The Bruins are just something else in the third period.
Chris Kelly just pushed the Bruins’ lead to three, as he buried a chance at point-blank on an absolutely gorgeous backhanded saucer pass from Carl Soderberg who had won a race to the puck in the corner.
Third period, 3:00, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins got three shots on goal during their 45-second power play, but Martin Brodeur stopped them all.
Third period, 1:38, Bruins 3-1: And the New Jersey power play is over.
The Bruins took advantage of some sloppy play from the Devils and got a couple of shorthanded chances. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand teamed up for the first, and then Loui Eriksson had a shorthanded bid as well. Eriksson was slashed by Eric Gelinas, and Gelinas will go to the box.
There will be about 1:15 of 4-on-4 time.
Third period, 0:52, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins have not had a very good start to the period, and now they’ll have to kill off a penalty.
Dougie Hamilton hooked Patrik Elias as Elias had a chance in front of the net.
Third period, 0:01, Bruins 3-1: The third period is underway.
End second period, Bruins 3-1: The second period is over, and the Bruins will take the two-goal lead to the dressing room.
Second period, 17:59, Bruins 3-1: Patrice Bergeron just made a bid for his second goal of the game .
Bergeron tried to curl and drag around the New Jersey defense and got a shot at the goal, but it might have been blocked on its way toward the net. The puck lay just in front of the crease, but Bergeron couldn’t quite get to it before Brodeur covered it up.
Second period, 15:00, Bruins 3-1: The Devils just got into the slot, and Jaromir Jagr came within inches of getting New Jersey within one.
Jagr got a chance from the slot and quickly put a one-timer on goal and hit the post.
Second period, 12:00, Bruins 3-1: The Devils are starting to throw their weight around right now, but it’s not doing much in turning into offensive chances.
Tuomo Ruutu just drilled Loui Eriksson with a big hit, and the Devils now have 15 hits on the evening, which his actually the same amount as the Bruins. The B’s are still doing a good job of keeping New Jersey out of the slot, as the Devils are struggling to get any legitimate scoring chances.
Second period, 6:54, Bruins 3-1: The Devils came close to getting back within one, but Chad Johnson made a nice save to keep it a two-goal game.
Michael Ryder fed Ryane Clowe a saucer pass through the slot that Clowe tried to quickly one-time past Johnson, but the goalie went from his left to his right to make the save.
A quick note on Jarome Iginla’s goal from earlier in the period. That was Iginla’s 556th career goal, which ties him with Bruins legend Johnny Bucyk for 25th on the league’s all-time scoring list.
Second period, 2:22, Bruins 3-1: So the Bruins come out plus-2 when the penalty situation was all said and done.
Jarome Iginla got free on a breakaway and just beat Martin Brodeur five-hole with a quick snap shot from the right circle to give the B’s a 3-1 lead.
Second period, 1:23, Bruins 2-1: And now the Bruins have the lead again.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand just combined for a beautiful shorthanded goal that Marchand ended up burying for what was his fifth shorthanded goal of the season.
Second period, 0:29, 1-1: That didn’t take long.
Patrik Elias just blasted a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Chad Johnson five-hole. That ends the Bruins’ streak of 20 consecutive successful penalty kills.
The Devils still have about a minute and a half of power-play time on the Gregory Campbell penalty.
Second period, 0:01, Bruins 1-0: The second period is underway with the Bruins looking to kill off the 5-on-3 for 35 seconds.
End first period, Bruins 1-0: The first period is over, and the Bruins hold the one-goal lead.
They will have to kill off 35 seconds of 5-on-3 time to begin the second period and then another 1:25 of the Gregory Campbell delay of game penalty.
First period, 19:57, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins are going to have to kill off a 5-on-3 for 35 seconds in the second period.
Gregory Campbell was just called for delay of game on an attempted clear.
First period, 18:35, Bruins 1-0: It’s been a pretty clean couple of games for the Bruins, but they’re going to have to kill a power play here late in the period and into the second.
Dougie Hamilton was just called for charging. The Bruins have killed off 20 straight opposing power plays.
First period, 14:57, Bruins 1-0: Ryane Clowe is hoping that going toe-to-toe with one of the league’s toughest players will jump-start the Devils.
Clowe just dropped the gloves with Milan Lucic, and the two heavyweights traded some big blows in the Boston end in a lengthy bout.
First period, 14:33, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins are on the board first.
Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith just worked the give-and-go to perfection. Bergeron got the puck as he skated into the New Jersey zone where he dropped it back for Smith. That’s where Smith waited for the defenseman to commit before giving the puck back to Bergeron who beat Martin Brodeur with a little backhanded shot five-hole.
First period, 10:51, 0-0: The Devils’ defensemen are having some issues tonight.
The Devils just made another bad pinch at the offensive blue line, and the Bruins almost made them pay. Carl Soderberg chipped the puck out of the Boston zone to himself and was off to the races with Milan Lucic. The two B’s had a 2-on-1 cooking and it was Soderberg who ended up taking the shot. He was denied by Martin Brodeur, however, who has now made 10 saves.
First period, 8:56, 0-0: Jaromir Jagr almost burned his former team.
The veteran winger stole the puck in the neutral zone and then stepped right around Dougie Hamilton at the Boston blue line. Jagr had a 2-on-1 working with Travis Zajac, but Zajac couldn’t finish in front as the timing was off by just a hair.
First period, 7:00, 0-0: Another chance for the Bruins’ first line and Milan Lucic, and another chance thwarted by Martin Brodeur.
David Krejci won the offensive-zone faceoff to Lucic, who put a quick snap shot on goal from the high slot. Brodeur flashed the right pad and made a nifty toe save.
First period, 4:25, 0-0: The Bruins’ first line has scored on just about every chance it’s had in the last few weeks, but they were just denied on the game’s best scoring chance so far.
Milan Lucic got behind the New Jersey defense and walked in all alone, but he was stoned by Martin Brodeur. It appeared that Lucic had the five-hole open, but Brodeur closed just enough of the gap at just the right time to deny Lucic.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is underway in New Jersey.
6:45 p.m.: It appears as if Corey Potter will be making his Bruins debut tonight. He’s taking pregame rushes with Zdeno Chara, and Matt Bartkowski appears to be the odd man out.
6:33 p.m.: Pregame warmups are underway in New Jersey, and it will be Chad Johnson starting for the Bruins. Martin Brodeur will go for the Devils.
So, yeah. I’m 0-for-2 in lineup predictions.
6 p.m.: So much for the line of thinking that Johnny Boychuk might return tonight. The Bruins defenseman is out, Claude Julien just told reporters in New Jersey.
Julien also said that Corey Potter “might” be in the lineup. That decision will be supposedly be made (or revealed) after warmups, though.
5:50 p.m.: It’s “Retro Night” in New Jersey, which means the Devils will be donning their red and green jerseys, which has been a very rare occurrence since the team switched to red and black at the beginning of the 1992-93 season.
Since the change, the Devils have gone green just four times, and they’re 1-3 in those games. New Jersey hasn’t worn red and green against the Bruins since March 26, 1992. That was the night of Martin Brodeur’s first career win.
None of this means anything, really, but there’s still an hour before gametime, and some of us are bored.
5:10 p.m.: The Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa tweeted that Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk is with the team, but it’s unknown whether Boychuk will play against the Devils.
As mentioned earlier, D-men Corey Potter and Matt Bartkowski were among the four Bruins who skated this morning, which could mean they’re out tonight. If that is the case, Boychuk would be back in after missing last night’s game with some soreness.
It would be pretty surprising if Boychuk plays. There’s really no reason to go overboard, and it sounded like Boychuk was in a good deal of pain after the initial adrenaline wore off. Then again, he’s one of the toughest guys in Black and Gold, so maybe it wouldn’t be that surprising if he suits up against New Jersey.
11:35 a.m.: The Bruins aren’t holding a formal morning skate, but a handful of Bruins are on the ice, according to NESN’s Jamie Erdahl.
Chad Johnson, Matt Bartkowski, Jordan Caron and Corey Potter are all on the ice getting a skate in. That may mean that all of them are going to be out tonight against the Devils.
If that’s the case, there are a few things worth noting. One, that would seem to indicate that Tuukka Rask would be back in net after playing Monday night against Minnesota. Secondly, if both Potter and Bartkowski are healthy scratches, that means that Johnny Boychuk would be back in the lineup after missing Monday’s game. He was banged up after a rough game against Carolina on Saturday.
Of course, these assumptions could be incorrect, so we’ll have to wait and see what Claude Julien says this afternoon. He’ll meet with the media at 5:50 p.m.
11 a.m.: The Boston Bruins are the hottest team in the NHL right now, and they won’t wait long to get back to work, as they’ll look to extend their season-long winning streak on Tuesday night.
The B’s will finish off yet another back-to-back on Tuesday in New Jersey where they take on the Devils. Boston will be looking to push its winning streak to 10 games after the B’s toppled the Minnesota Wild on Monday night in Boston. If the Bruins are able to get by the Devils and reach the 10-game mark, it will mark their first 10-game winning streak since Nov. 1-23, 2011. The Bruins are also putting an 11-game road point streak on the line, as they’re 8-0-3 in their last 11 away from the Garden. That stretch dates all the way back to early January and is the fourth-longest streak in team history.
The Devils, who were at one time this season a surprising playoff contender, have fallen off some lately. They’ve lost their last two games and are just 5-5-0 in their last 10 games. Still, the Devils are only five points out of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot with 15 games to play. So it’s safe to say that every game is an important one the rest of the way, which means the Bruins should get a good effort out of the Devils.
Tuesday’s matchup will mark the second meeting between these two teams this season. The Devils won a 4-3 decision on Oct. 26 in Boston. All four of New Jersey’s goals that night came on the power play. Coincidentally, the Bruins come into Tuesday’s game having killed 20 consecutive penalties.
Martin Brodeur is expected to start in net for the Devils. The Bruins won’t hold a morning skate after traveling Monday night, so we’ll have to wait for pregame warmups to find out who their starting goalie will be. Conventional wisdom says it will likely be Chad Johnson, but Tuukka Rask made stats on consecutive days last week.
Puck drop from the Prudential Center is set for 7 p.m.
