BOSTON — The Boston Bruins may be getting healthier, but that doesn’t mean wins automatically are going to come their way.
With Jake DeBrusk, Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller all making their respective returns to action after extended absences due to injury, the Bruins fell 5-2 to a lowly New Jersey Devils team on Thursday at TD Garden.
Damon Severson, Kyle Palmieri, Blake Coleman (twice, including an empty-netter) and Nico Hischier had the goals for the Devils, who entered the game with a share of last place in the NHL. Chris Wagner and Patrice Bergeron had Boston’s tallies.
Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves for the Bruins, while New Jersey netminder MacKenzie Blackwood turned away 30 shots.
The Bruins fell to 20-14-4 with the loss, while the Devils climbed to 12-16-7 with the win.
Here’s how it all went down:
DEVILS COME OUT FIRING
The Bruins received a pretty loud wake-up call, with the Devils getting on the board just 25 seconds into the game.
After entering the offensive zone, Andy Greene received a pass from Travis Zajac. Just when Greene got to the top of the left face-off circle, he slid a pass over to Severson, who beat Halak to open the scoring.
Exactly 15 minutes later, the Devils doubled their advantage after John Moore went to the penalty box for tripping.
Upon getting a pass from Will Butcher, Palmieri threw a puck on net, which Halak blocked. But in blocking the shot, the puck went and hit Brandon Carlo, flipped up in the air, then hit off Halak’s mask and arm before trickling into the goal.
The Bruins had one chance on the power play but were unable to score. They were outshot 12-10 in the opening 20 minutes.
B’S GET ONE BACK
The Bruins created far more opportunities in the second period, and with just under five minutes to play, it finally paid off.
John Moore skated a puck deep into the offensive zone. Instead of attempting a bad angle shot, he found Wagner across the ice and hit him with a sharp pass. Wagner redirected the puck past Blackwood on the doorstep at 15:07 for his fourth goal of the season, also making sure to body check Brett Seney into the net immediately after scoring.
Boston ultimately outshot Jersey 19-9 in the middle frame. Stefan Noesen was whistled for tripping David Krejci with 12 second left in the frame, giving the Bruins a prime chance to find an equalizer to begin the final period.
DEVILS ADD MORE AND CLOSE DOOR
The Bruins were unable to capitalize on their power play to begin the third, and the Devils made them pay a few minutes later.
Torey Krug ripped a one-timer from the blue line off a face-off, which Coleman blocked. The puck took a huge bounce, careening into the neutral zone. Coleman fought off Krug and was the first to get to the loose puck, which resulted in a breakaway. Carlo tried chasing him down, giving a halfhearted stick check to Coleman just before he buried the Devils’ third goal past Halak.
New Jersey furthered its lead with 7:17 left in the game.
Miles Wood got a puck right at Boston’s blue line off a pass from Noesen, which led to a two-on-one with Hischier. Wood quickly hit Hischier with a pass as they got into the attacking zone, and Hischier finished past Halak to up the score to 4-1.
Trailing by three, the Bruins didn’t totally lay down.
The Devils failed to clear a puck out from deep in their defensive zone, with DeBrusk getting the puck along the boards. He threw a puck toward the net, which Bergeron redirected home to cut the deficit to 4-2.
With 47.5 seconds left, however, Coleman buried an empty-netter to finish the game off.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will return to action with a road tilt against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Puck drop from KeyBank Center is set for 7 p.m. ET.
This Bruins Wrap is presented by Plainridge Park Casino.
