BOSTON (AP) Tuukka Rask kept the Boston Bruins surging toward the All-Star break.
Rask stopped 37 shots and didn’t allow a goal over the final 30 minutes as the Bruins rallied to a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Rask faced 20 shots in the first period and stopped them all, allowing the Bruins to recover from a sluggish start and win their fourth straight.
”It’s just one of those games you’ve got to battle a little bit more,” Rask said.
Brad Marchand scored his team-high 21st goal and added an assist for the Bruins, who improved to 13-0-4 in their last 17 and have not lost in regulation in more than a month. Patrice Bergeron and Riley Nash also scored for Boston.
Miles Wood and Damon Severson scored in the second period for New Jersey, which has lost three straight in regulation for the first time this season. Corey Schneider made 17 saves in the first two periods and Ken Appleby stopped the only four shots he faced in the third for the slumping Devils, who are 2-6-3 in their last 11.
New Jersey outshot Boston 20-9 in the first period, but couldn’t get anything past Rask.
”He was awesome,” said David Pastrnak, who assisted on Marchand’s goal with 33 seconds left in the second. ”We didn’t have a good start and Tuukka was unbelievable in the first.”
Marchand took a pass from Pastrnak for a breakaway and beat Cory Schneider on a backhand, breaking a 2-all tie and giving the Bruins their first lead.
”We didn’t have a great game. We know that we need to be better. If we play like that a lot of nights it’s not going to work out for us,” Marchand said. ”Tuuks did a great job and the D did a great job in the third. We came up big when it mattered and that’s what you need.”
Marchand also assisted on Bergeron’s power-play goal with 7:07 to go in the second that tied it 2-all. It was the 20th goal of the season for Bergeron, who joined linemates Marchand and David Pastrnak to reach 20 goals.
Bergeron’s tying goal came with New Jersey down two men because of penalties. Wood had only served 33 seconds of a double-minor for interference and cross-checking when Marcus Johansson was called for tripping at 12:03.
There was a 13-minute delay after the goal as the officials sorted out confusion about time remaining on the penalties, which continued to irk the Devils after the game.
”They were trying to figure out the clock and the times and what was accruate and what was not accurate,” New Jersey coach John Hynes said. ”Later, the refs talked to Miles and myself and just said they made a mistake.”
Nash scored Boston’s first goal 7:03 into the second, tying it after Wood broke the scoreless tie with a goal at 2:05. Severson regained the led for New Jersey two minutes later.
NOTES: Schneider, who was sidelined two of the previous three games with an illness, left after the second period. … Marchand’s goal and assist gave him nine points in his last four games. … All-Star LW Taylor Hall sat out his second straight game for the Devils with a hand injury. … Boston was without D Charlie McAvoy, who had a procedure to correct an abnormal heart rhythm on Monday and is expected to miss two weeks.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host Nashville on Thursday night.
Bruins: At Ottawa on Thursday night.
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