The Bruins probably deserved a better result Sunday.
The New Jersey Devils handed Boston a 1-0 defeat at TD Garden after Kyle Palmieri snapped the scoreless tie with 4:37 left in the game. The Devils now are 3-1 against the Bruins this season.
Boston out-shot New Jersey 40-25 and out-hit the Devils 22-19. The Bruins had two power-play opportunities, both in the third period, while the Devils had three.
Tuukka Rask saved 24 of the 25 shots he faced while Scott Wedgewood stopped all 40 shots that came his way.
Boston fell to 13-6-3 with the loss while the Devils improved to 8-11-2.
Here’s how it went down:
STAYING SCORELESS
The Bruins carried over their energy from Friday’s win into the first period, but they didn’t have anything to show for it on the scoreboard.
Boston out-shot New Jersey 12-10 and out-hit the Devils by a 10-9 advantage, though.
However, the Bruins’ penalty kill stood out in the first period as Boston killed two New Jersey power plays. The first came at 7:19 when Urho Vaakanainen was sent to the box for a high stick while Chris Wagner was whistled for tripping at 13:34.
Rask saved all 10 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes.
STILL SCORELESS
Neither side broke through in the second, either.
The Devils did, however, have a Jack Hughes goal waved off just two minutes into the period.
New Jersey turned up the intensity in the middle period, especially in the opening half. It was perhaps best depicted as the Devils took an 18-14 edge in hits through two.
Boston maintained a 22-19 advantage in shots. The Bruins also had 13 takeaways and 10 giveaways.
The Bruins’ penalty kill earned their third of the game after Jake DeBrusk went to the box for a high stick at 9:14.
Rask turned away 19 shots through two.
DEVILS PULL IT OUT
The Bruins benefitted from two power plays in the third period. Boston first had the man-advantage when Marchand drew a hooking penalty at 5:26, while Anders Bjork drew the same penalty six minutes later.
The Bruins had a handful of chances during each man-advantage but simply couldn’t find the twine.
New Jersey then broke the tie game about four minutes later as Palmieri tipped in an initial shot at the back post from Pavel Zacha.
Boston played with an empty net for the last 90 seconds but still couldn’t find the back of the net.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will travel to the New York Islanders on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.
