Recap: Bruins surge past Devils, 5-2, with five unanswered goals

Pastrnak and Shattenkirk each had two goals apiece in the win.

The Boston Bruins powered past the New Jersey Devils, 5-2, with two-goal nights from David Pastrnak and Kevin Shattenkirk and a strong power play tonight at the TD Garden.

The Bruins scored five unanswered goals, as Jake DeBrusk got the team going with the first of the night.

Twos were wild as both Pastrnak and Shattenkirk each scored a 5v5 and power-power play goal each in the win. The power play went 2 for 2. Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle also each had two assists tonight.

Linus Ullmark made 31 saves.

Here are the highlights!

First period:

The Devils opened the scoring at 6:03 of the first period.

Tyler Toffoli dished a short pass to Nico Hischier out front where he put a wrist shot over Linus Ullmark’s glove shoulder. 1-0 Devils.

Second period:

The Devils took a two-goal lead at 1:11 of the second period.

Luke Hughes threw a long shot at net from the top of the left-wing circle to beat Ullmark’s glove. 2-0 Devils.

The Bruins cut into their deficit at 5:35 of the second period.

Brad Marchand handed the puck off to Jake DeBrusk who drove to net. Shifting to his backhand at the paint, he put a low shot past Vitek Vanecek. 2-1 game.

The Bruins tied the game at 12:51 of the second period.

At the far post, David Pastrnak found Brandon Carlo’s pass to slide a shot past Vanecek with one hand on his stick. 2-2 game.

The Bruins took the lead at 15:39 of the second period on the power play.

DeBrusk dished Pastrnak a pass as he crashed the net and then put a backhander low past Vanecek’s right skate. 3-2 Bruins.

The Bruins extended their lead at 17:14 of the second period.

Matt Grzelcyk hit Kevin Shattenkirk with a pass inside the right-wing circle for a wrist shot past Vanecek blocker side. 4-2 Bruins.

Third period:

The Bruins cushioned their lead on Shattenkirk’s second goal of the night at 16:49 of the third period on the power play.

After receiving a pass from Pastrnak, Marchand found Shattenkirk low in the offensive zone for a quick wrist shot past Vanecek. Final score: 5-2 Bruins.

Game notes

• Well that game was more like it! The Bruins played Bruins hockey, were physical, and kept to their game to break the scoring open with five unanswered goals. Although the Devils ramped up pressure in the third period, the B’s capitalized on a tired New Jersey team and wore them down throughout the 60 minutes, winning puck battles and getting to loose pucks first.
• Jim Montgomery said postgame he liked his team’s response after falling 2-0 early in the second period. He felt the team really started to carry the play the last eight minute of the first period, capped off by a strong shift from Johnny Beecher’s line with offensive zone coverage and a few chances — which set things in motion and shift the momentum of the game. He said he wasn’t worried getting down by two goals because of how they were playing and that the team was playing their style of hockey. “It played itself out,” he said.
• It was a big time for Jake DeBrusk who got the B’s on the scoreboard and finally netted his first goal since Nov. 30. Montgomery said he felt DeBrusk started to get his game back in Buffalo. He credited DeBrusk’s goal as a real goal scorer’s goal, getting it to the far post.
• Shattenkirk also registered his 100th — and eventually No. 101 — career goal. The defensemen now has four goals on the year.
• SCOC asked Shattenkirk postgame how he felt hitting that milestone. He said: “It felt great. I don’t think I was going into every game expecting to hit it, I’m not Pasta. If I don’t have a goal a the game, I’m not like damn, ‘I didn’t get my 100th goal tonight.’ But you know it’s going to come eventually and just stuck with it. Once it happened, it’s a great milestone and something I am proud of. My teammates showed a lot of love for me as well which is always very heartwarming.”
• The Bruins also stayed out of the box for the majority of the night, only on the kill twice. It’s something they were mindful of knowing how good the Devils’ power play has been this year. The Devils capitalized once on their man-advantage, only five seconds in. The B’s were 2 for 2 on the power play tonight.
• Pastrnak is now on a three-game point streak with his three points he registered during the game.
• Charlie McAvoy went down during the third period, but Montgomery said he was fine and walking around after the game.
• Georgii Merkulov made his Bruins’ debut with 15:08 TOI and no shots.