Bruins roll past winless Devils
Tuukka Rask stopped all 31 shots he faced in his first shutout of the season as the Boston Bruins beat the visiting New Jersey Devils 3-0 in their home opener Saturday night.
Brad Marchand, Joakim Nordstrom and Patrice Bergeron scored as the Bruins won for the fourth time in five games to begin the new year. Rask turned away just six shots in the third period to complete the shutout.
Cory Schneider made 29 saves for the Devils, who have dropped five straight to begin the season. New Jersey was shutout for the second time in four nights.
Marchand got the Bruins on the board 3:33 into the first period. Controlling the puck in the offensive zone, Marchand was pushed down to the ice by Devils defender P.K. Subban, but he quickly collected himself and retained possession before firing the puck over the right shoulder of Schneider from the top of the zone for a 1-0 lead. David Pastrnak earned an assist.
Boston increased the lead to 2-0 later in the period. Through a crowd of three New Jersey players in front of the net, Sean Kuraly dished to Chris Wagner, who fed the puck to Nordstrom for a flick into the top right corner of the net at 11:22.
Outshot 15-10 in the first period, the Devils held the edge in the second (16-9) but still fell behind 3-0. On a Bruins power play with 46 seconds remaining in the period, Bergeron stuffed the puck past Schneider on the rebound off assists from Marchand and Jake DeBrusk for his first goal of the season.
New Jersey had two power plays in the second but came up empty. It also squandered a chance in the third and four for the game, extending its drought to begin the season to 15 failed chances.
The struggling Devils return home Monday to face the Florida Panthers to kick off a six-game homestand. The Bruins remain home against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
-Field Level Media
