The Boston Bruins entered Monday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils with the 23rd-ranked offense in the NHL, and it showed why in a 3-0 loss at the Prudential Center.
The B’s were outshot 26-22 and failed to convert on all three of its power-play opportunities against one of the league’s worst teams.
The loss drops Boston to 20-16-4, while New Jersey improves to 15-16-7.
Here’s how it all went down.
DEVILS STRIKE FIRST
New Jersey forward P.A. Parenteau buried a rebound at the 4:12 mark of the first period to open the scoring for the Devils.
The Bruins had just two shot attempts in the first four minutes of the first period.
HUGE KILL
The Bruins went on a penalty kill at 8:45 of the opening period when Bruins defenseman Colin Miller picked up an extra roughing minor along with a major penalty for fighting Devils forward Miles Wood. Less than a minute later, Adam McQuaid took a double-minor penalty for high sticking, which gave the Devils a 5-on-3 power play for 1:09. The Bruins were able to kill off both penalties to prevent the Devils from doubling their lead. Boston entered the game with the league’s seventh-best penalty kill.
SO CLOSE
B’s forward Brad Marchand thought he scored with 4.9 seconds remaining in the first period when the puck appeared to cross the goal line after Devils goalie Cory Schneider made a nice diving attempt to keep it out. The call on the ice was “no goal,” and that ruling was upheld upon official review, as there wasn’t enough evidence in the replays to overturn the call.
DEVILS FINISH IT
Devils forward Sergey Kalinin doubled his team’s lead with a goal just 1:44 into the third period. Taylor Hall put on the finishing touches with a late empty-net goal.
Boston’s top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak combined for zero points and just seven shots on goal. Bergeron has scored just three goals in his last 14 games, Marchand has two goals in his last 10 games and Pastrnak is on a seven-game goalless drought.
The Bruins don’t have enough scoring depth for this line to be underwhelming for long stretches.
OPPORTUNITY MISSED
The Bruins didn’t play well enough to beat a bad team Monday night, and it’s become an upsetting trend. Boston has lost to the Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders and Devils over the last 13 games. Those teams are not very good. In fact, the Islanders, ‘Canes and Devils are the bottom three clubs in the Metropolitan division.
Now the B’s have 44 points and just a slim lead in third place in the Atlantic division despite playing two or three more games than the teams chasing them in the playoff race.
UP NEXT
The Bruins return to TD Garden for a Thursday night matchup with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Ed Mulholland/USA TODAY Sports Images
