The New Jersey Devils lost 7-2 to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center. What looked like a promising start for New Jersey quickly devolved into a sloppy, disjointed mess of a performance. Outside of two goals in 19 seconds, the Devils completely no-showed in a game against one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, when they could have instead clinched a playoff position. With the loss, the Devils fell to 41-30-7 while the Bruins improved to 32-38-9.
Game Recap
Period One
The Bruins rang a shot off the post on the opening shift, but the Devils quickly turned the tide and sent a few dangerous shots toward Jeremy Swayman.
The Devils got an early power play after Seamus Casey was hooked, but they couldn’t open the scoring despite some good looks at the net.
After a turnover in the zone, the puck found David Pastrnak, who sniped a shot past Jacob Markstrom to give the Bruins the lead at 9:38. The goal was unassisted.
New Jersey responded well and began tilting the ice back in their favor, with zone time and more pressure on Swayman.
However, the Devils couldn’t clear the zone in the dying seconds of pla,y and the Bruins doubled their lead thanks to Michael Callahan’s first NHL goal at 19:24. Parker Wotherspoon and Pastrnak had the assists.
The Devils were outshot 11-10 in the opening 20 minutes.
Period Two
New Jersey went to the penalty kill just seconds into the middle frame after Jesper Bratt hooked Pastrnak, but they killed it without allowing a shot.
The puck took a funky hop, and the Bruins got a two-on-one break, which led to a Jakub Lauko goal at 3:45, his fourth of the season. The goal was unassisted.
Boston had more zone time and pressure as the Devils struggled to get anything going. New Jersey took another penalty, this time Dawson Mercer going off for hooking Pastrnak. Again, it was killed off.
The Devils tallied their first shot of the period with just under 10 minutes left in the frame.
New Jersey finally generated some extended zone time, and they eventually drew a penalty. During the delayed call, the Devils got on the board with a redirection in front of the net by Stefan Noesen at 13:51. Daniel Sprong tallied the primary assist with a beautiful, backhanded pass through the blue paint to find Noesen. Nico Hischier added a secondary assist on the play.
Seconds later, at 14:10, New Jersey pulled within one with a shot that deflected off Timo Meier on its way to the back of the net. Erik Haula notched the lone assist.
The Devils kept their foot on the gas and pinned the Bruins in their zone for a few consecutive shifts, forcing Swayman to make a big save to bail his team out.
Boston got a face-off in their O-zone and quickly cashed in with a weak shot from the blue line that deflected past Markstrom. Casey Mittlestadt was credited for the goal at 19:07, with assists from Fabian Lysell and Henri Jokiharju.
The Devils were outshot 8-7 in the period.
Period Three
The Devils weren’t sharp to begin the period, and they gave up a fifth goal less than five minutes in. Blown defensive coverage left Morgan Geekie wide open in front of Markstrom, and he tallied his 30th goal of the season. Pastrnak and Nikita Zadorov had the assists.
At 6:55, Fraser Minten tallied his first goal as a Bruin after the Devils turned the puck over in their zone and couldn’t get a stick on it in the slot. Vinni Lettieri and Andrew Peeke had the assists.
The Devils allowed a seventh goal minutes later after Cole Koepke blew through the defense for his 10th of the season. The goal was unassisted.
Jake Allen replaced Markstrom in net.
The Devils marginally improved their play, but Allen still had to make a few saves after turnovers and sloppy play handed the Bruins more chances. Mercifully, the clock expired, bringing a brutal performance to a close.
The Devils were outshot 25-21 in the game.
Takeaways
Burn the Tape
There was nothing good to take from the Devils’ performance on Tuesday night. They had the slight edge early, but the wheels fell off as the game progressed. Unforced errors were prevalent as New Jersey handed chances to the Bruins in prime areas of the ice. In fact, of the seven goals scored for Boston, three were unassisted, a clear indication that the Devils were the ones “assisting” on the opposing goals, with clear-cut giveaways.
Markstrom didn’t have a good game either, even with the poor play in front of him. He made just 16 saves on 23 shots for a .696 SV% and a -4.5 GSAx. Markstrom’s play had been much improved in his past few outings but, like the rest of the team, he was clearly off against the Bruins.
Consistently Inconsistent
It’s been over two years since the Devils’ last four-plus-game win streak, a rather baffling trend that has persisted even with new players and coaches coming in. Just since the beginning of March, the Devils have had two different opportunities to stretch a winning streak to four games, and both times they came out flat, earning a blowout loss.
They had wins over the Flyers, Blue Jackets and Oilers followed by a 7-3 drubbing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Most recently, they strung together two wins over the Wild and a 4-0 shutout of the Rangers but completely fell flat against the Bruins.
Their last win streak of four or more games came in 2023 when they won five consecutive games between January 7th and 16th. Since then, they’ve had 13 three-game win streaks snapped.
This season alone, the Devils had six three-game win streaks, each one followed by a loss. They were outscored 27-9 in the losses. Additionally, four of the six teams they lost to are not currently in a playoff position. Those include the Sharks, Penguins, and Bruins, who are all mathematically eliminated, as well as the Blue Jackets, who sit eight points out of the last wildcard spot in the East.
While a four-game win streak isn’t necessary to succeed in the postseason, it would certainly inspire confidence and give the team some needed momentum, in a way it hasn’t had in two years and counting.
Up Next
The Devils look to bounce back and clinch a playoff spot on Friday night at the Prudential Center where they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Metropolitan Division foes. The Devils took the first two contests while the Penguins won the most recent matchup.
The Penguins sit seventh in the Division and have been eliminated from playoff contention with a 32-35-12 record. They are 4-4-2 in their past ten contests but are coming off a 5-0 shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on MSGSN, SN-PIT, and NHLN.
ITR 42: Ripe For Repeat? – Inside The Rink
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