BOSTON, MA – It was very much in the mold of most Bruins/Devils games. It wasn’t pulse-pounding or NHL hockey chock full of offense and scoring, but things ended happily for the Bruins anyway in their home opener.
Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winner in his first game back this season after missing the first three games of the season with a lower body injury, and that clutch score powered the B’s to a 2-1 win at TD Garden after scoring in the closing minutes. David Pastrnak won a battle in the corner to set the whole play up, and then Brad Marchand fed Bergeron from behind the net for the strike from the high slot.
Marchand also tied the game in the third period on a filthy wrist between the legs of Jersey D-man Andy Greene on its way to being tucked inside the far post, setting up Boston’s heroics late in a home opener that got better as it went along.
The Bruins and Devils played to a stalemate through the first 40 minutes with a couple of chances for each side, but nothing to show for their efforts while both goalies, Tuukka Rask and Cory Schneider, stood tall in their respective nets. David Backes probably had the best of the chances for the Bruins in the early going, but missed wide on a redirect from a David Krejci pass in the first period.
The Devils finally broke through on a power play early in the third period when a Kyle Palmieri point shot ricocheted off Brandon Carlo’s skate, and slipped through Tuukka Rask’s leg pads as he expected the puck to go wide of the net. The Jersey goal seemed to lift the urgency level for the Bruins after Boston once again surrendered the first goal of the game for the fourth time in four games this season, and the B’s finally broke through with Marchand’s game-tying strike.