Boston Bruins third period performance seals 4-1 win over New Jersey Devils - NHL Update
Boston Bruins faced a tough road assignment against the high flying New Jersey Devils on Thursday, January 19th, 2012, at the Prudential Center, but still managed a 4-1 victory after a brilliant third period performance.
New Jersey Devils entered the game on the back of some wonderful performances.
They notched up a three game winning streak that has seen them move up the Eastern Conference rankings, into the playoff spots, and that run seemed to continue for most of the game as Devils maintained a 1-0 advantage, but eventually succumbed to the defending
Stanley Cup Champions.
Devils, with the loss, move down a spot to seventh, with a 26-18-2 record and 54 points.
Devils' coach, Peter DeBoer was unhappy that his side could not hold on for the win, but praised the team’s efforts against Bruins.
"We had our chances," Brodeur said.
"We hit the crossbar in the second and Thomas made the saves when he had to. They stayed in the game and got back. That's unfortunate. I thought we played two good periods against a good team. We battled real hard and did a lot of good things."
Bruins were surprisingly defeated by a struggling Tampa Bay Lightning side, 5-3, in their previous match, but managed to avoid starting a rare losing run.
Bruins have lost consecutive games just thrice during the whole season with two of those coming during their nightmarish start to the season.
Boston were under for a long period on Thursday and had just 12 shots on Martin Brodeur’s goal in the first two periods.
However, Bruins had the mental strength to not give up and their efforts bore fruit in the third period.
Devils took the lead in the first period.
At 18:29, Petr Sykora scored Devils' sole goal of the game, giving his side the lead for two periods.
Dainius Zubrus won a faceoff and beating the Bruins defensemen, passed the puck to Sykora for an easy finish.
The second period saw no change in the score line with both teams failing to beat the two goaltenders.
Devils were close to improving their lead but the puck ricocheted off the goal post from Steven Zalewski.
The third period however, saw the game turned on its head. The Bruins were suddenly awakened from their stupor and at 3:01 Andrew Ference equalised for the defending Stanley Cup holders with a well taken shot.
Nathan Horton’s power play goal four minutes later saw the Bruins take the lead for the first time, although Devils' bench was furious with the officials, who in their opinions, missed a foul on their defenseman in the build-up.
35 seconds later, Bruins were up by two goals as Gregory Campbell scored his fifth goal of the season and Chris Kelly’s unassisted goal in the final minute of regulation time sealed a brilliant final period Bruins' performance.
"Once we got that goal, it was us again, playing the way we are capable of playing," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said.
"They were really ready for us and came out strong, with a good game plan. We were finding our legs and were a little hesitant. Once we scored the goal, we just played our game.”
Bruins will face the New York Rangers in a mouth watering clash on Saturday as the top two of the Eastern Conference will take on each other, while the Devils welcome Philadelphia Flyers at the Prudential Center.
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