Talking Points: Bruins Ride The Victory Sleigh Into Holiday Break

NEWARK, NJ – Here are the Talking Points after Linus Ullmark and the Boston Bruins held on for 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Friday night ahead of the NHL holiday break.

GOLD STAR: David Pastrnak absolutely took over the game in the second period. The Bruins were trailing 1-0 and getting outshot 13-5 and it looked like the Devils were making a big time statement about the balance of power in the Eastern Conference. They tied it up on a great face-off play and then Pastrnak decided to go crazy with a pair of goals that blew the game open and totally changed the tenor of everything in less than a seven minute span. The first was a play where he shoveled in the rebound of a deflected puck and the second was a bar-down snipe that seemed to take everything out of the Devils. Pastrnak now has an 11-game scoring streak and has moved up to a tie for third in the NHL with his 24 goals on the season for the Black and Gold.

That is TASTY from Pasta 🎯#NHLBruins | #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/RouYTBeVLe

— The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast (@rayanddregs) December 24, 2022

BLACK EYE: No shots on net and a minus-2 for Erik Haula in one of his “revenge” games against the Boston Bruins after getting traded to New Jersey in exchange for Pavel Zacha this offseason. He also got buried by Derek Forbort in front of the net early in the game while fishing for a loose puck and had to watch a nice Zacha tribute video in his first return to Jersey as an opposing player. Talk about awkward.

TURNING POINT: For the Boston Bruins, things started to turn after a well-executed face-off play in the offensive zone. Patrice Bergeron won the draw to Jake DeBrusk wheeling behind him before he threw the puck to the net where Bergeron had moved in front of the paint to redirect it past Mackenzie Blackwood. The goal was followed by Linus Ullmark stopping a breakaway bid and then Tomas Tatar hitting the crossbar on a wide open backdoor chance at the net. Following that flurry, David Pastrnak put on his offensive fireworks display and the rest was history for the Boston Bruins.

HONORABLE MENTION: Linus Ullmark was outstanding for the Boston Bruins. He made big saves early when the Devils were outshooting the Boston Bruins by more than a 2-1 margin and then stood up and made more saves after the Bruins scratched out a goal to tie things up in the second period. His breakaway save was the biggest one of the game as the Devils started storming the Bruins after they tied it up and he didn’t stop there while making 37 saves in a game where the Devils outshot the B’s by a wide margin.

I mean, this Ullmark stat speaks for itself.

Linus Ullmark hasn't lost a game in regulation since November 5.🤯@NHLBruins | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/Ydm2v5qDIu

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) December 23, 2022

BY THE NUMBERS: 56 – the number of points for the Boston Bruins at the NHL holiday break as they continue to set the standard across the league after sweeping back-to-back games against Winnipeg and New Jersey.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “I play with Krejci and he’s never going to shoot, so somebody has to do it. So I guess somebody has to shoot on that line and that’s my role.” –A smiling David Pastrnak when asked why he’s shooting and scoring so much this season.