Boston Bruins

Game 15 Live Blog: Boston Bruins vs New Jersey Devils

Published

3 years ago

February 18, 2021

Jimmy Murphy

Here’s Five Thoughts on the second period with the Boston Bruins trailing the New Jersey Devils 3-1:

1. Palmieri Snaps Halak’s Scoreless Streak

New Jersey Devils winger Kyle Palmieri’s goal 1:34 into the period snapped a 91:25 shutout streak for Boston Bruins goalie Jaro Halak. Halak was not to blame on this or any of the Devils’ three goals in the middle frame. He has been the Bruins’ best goalie this season and it’s a shame the Bruins left him out to dry on this period. Halak has 15 saves on 18 Devils shots tonight.

LET'S GO @kylepalmieri !

1-0 good guys @NJDevils pic.twitter.com/mvMc7eOVzG

— Devils on MSG (@DevilsMSGN) February 19, 2021

2. Palmieri Would Look Good In Black And Gold

The Boston Bruins were hot on the trails for Kyle Palmieri leading into the 2019 and 2020 NHL trade deadlines but the Devils decided to hold on to him each time and the Bruins had to settle for the likes of Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie last season and Marcus Johansson and Charlie Coyle in 2019. The latter two played pivotal roles in the Bruins’ run to Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final and Ritchie has come on strong this season but Kase has been a mainstay on injured reserve. Palmieri was off to a slow start as the two goals tonight were the first of the season for him but he’s had five straight 20-goal seasons. He’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. If the Devils don’t sign him before the April 8 trade deadline, you can bet the Bruins and every other contender will go hard after him again. 3. DeBrusk Finally Finds The Twine

As mentioned in the five thoughts on the first period, DeBrusk is skating on the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand but so far he’s done his best work on the powerplay as he finally found the back of the net for his first goal of the season at 12:36. After Palmieri’s second goal, a shorthanded goal, DeBrusk picked off a pass along the boards and sniped one past Devils goalie MacKenzie Blackwood to cut the Devils’ lead to 2-1 at the time. DeBrusk has one goal on one shot and has three hits in 10:37 TOI.

4. Bruins Sloppy Play Cost Them

The Boston Bruins have eight turnovers through two periods of play and all three Devils’ goals came off turnovers, including the shorthander by Palmieri at 10:39 of the period. The Bruins look rusty, to say the least, but they can’t really blame four days off after the Devils went 15 days without a game before their 5-2 win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night in their first game this month.

5. Krejci Injured

After just 6:31 of ice time tonight, Boston Bruins center David Krejci headed to the dressing room with a lower-body injury and will not return tonight. Charlie Coyle has taken his spot between Nick Ritchie and David Pastrnak for now.