Devs’ win streak ends in Boston
BOSTON — David Pastrnak scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:49 left in the third period and the Bruins beat the Devils, 5-3, on Tuesday night.
Curtis Lazar notched a goal and an assist, Oskar Steen scored his first career goal and the Bruins won their third straight since returning to the ice after they had six consecutive games postponed because of COVID-19.
Trent Frederic also scored for Boston, and Brandon Carlo sealed it on a goal with 23 seconds to play. Linus Ullmark finished with 23 saves for the Bruins, who never trailed in ending the Devils’ threegame winning streak.
“We’ve been playing some great hockey these last three games.
Hopefully we can keep going,” Pastrnak said.
It was the first goal for Pastrnak since Nov. 30. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy recently shuffled lines, breaking up the top trio of Pastnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand while trying to balance Boston’s scoring.
“It’s going to take a little bit of time to get chemistry, but our focus is to talk to each other and be better every game,” said Pastrnak, who played on the second line with center Erik Haula and left wing Taylor Hall.
Pastrnak’s new linemates both recorded assists on his goal.
Nathan Bastian, Tomas Tatar and Damon Severson scored for the Devils.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 29 shots for the Devils, who rallied
5 3 from deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 to tie it but could not answer after Pastrnak scored from the slot for his ninth of the season.
“I think we did a lot of good stuff out there. We were battling and if we keep doing this every game, we could go a long way,” Tatar said. “We are looking much better after the break than we did before. If we’re going to keep repeating the right stuff, the good results will return for us.”
SURGERY FOR HAMILTON
Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton is scheduled to have surgery today on his broken jaw after taking a puck to the face early in a game at Washington Sunday.
The Devils did not give a timetable for his return. They put Hamilton on injured reserve retroactive to Sunday, when he was struck by a shot from the Caps’ Justin Schultz.