New Jersey has punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup playoffs and will play the New York Rangers in the first round, but Saturday’s game against the Bruins will be unforgettable for one Devil in particular.
Miles Wood will not only be playing in his 400th career game, but the Manchester, Mass. native will be playing against his childhood team.
“Back in my home state where I grew up playing, and I watched the Bruins a lot as a kid,” Wood told reporters in a team video. “To play my 400th game against them is kind of weird. It’s crazy how the timing of the whole thing matched up perfectly.”
The left winger was picked by New Jersey in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and played one year of collegiate hockey at Boston College before turning pro.
“It’s been a long road to get here, 27 years of playing hockey just accomplishing my dream, ” Wood said of the milestone. “(I) can’t thank my family enough and friends for all the support.”
With only a handful of games left, the Devils will look to stop the Bruins from tying the all-time wins record of 62 set by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and duplicated by the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I think each game you play is a bar to a certain extent. Being so late in the year with three games left playing a legit cup contender team, it’s going to be a great test,” Wood said. “Our standard will be set, and we’re going to have to play our best game to beat them.”
The Devils will be facing a shorthanded Boston team, with David Krejci remaining out of the lineup but will have to defend Bruins’ leading scorer David Pastrnak as he hunts for his own history of 60 goals.
Puck drop between the Bruins-Devils is set for 8 p.m. ET from TD Garden with the game airing on ABC.
