Bruins Have Night of Firsts To Deny Devils Playoff Berth

As the saying goes, there’s a first time for everything, and the Boston Bruins took that in a literal sense on Tuesday night.

From first career points to first 30-goal seasons,  a 7-2 win over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center featured all sorts of career firsts for the Bruins.

“The guys were playing with a little bit more confidence, and a little bit looser,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco told reporters in Newark. “When I say looser, I mean they were making good decisions. They were playing the right way. You get rewarded in this game when you when you play hard, and you play the right way.”

After David Pastrnak opened the scoring with the game’s first goal, rookie defenseman Michael Callahan doubled the lead in the final seconds remaining in the opening frame, firing a shot from the blue past Devils goalie Jakob Markstrom for his goal in the NHL.

“It’s just a dream,” said Callahan. The past couple of months have been so awesome for me to get to get a shot with the big club. I just try to keep coming in every day and work as hard as I can to help the team in any way. To win tonight and contribute to the win, too, feels good.”

Jakub Lauko made it 3-0 Boston to open the second period, scoring his first goal since returning to the team at the NHL trade deadline.

READ MORE: How Former Bruins Have Peformed Since The Trade Deadline

Everything seemed to be going the Bruins’ way, that is, until the Devils struck twice in the span of 19 seconds with a pair of goals from Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier.

Sensing the game slipping away, Sacco called a timeout to ease his team that suddenly found itself on the ropes.

“We just had to get back to our game,” Sacco said. “We needed to stick to the script that was working for us for the first however many minutes. We knew that New Jersey was going to push hard in the second period. They’re one of the better teams in the NHL in period two, and we’ve had some struggles in the second period. We just felt like we needed to settle things down, get back to our game, and start playing behind a little bit more.”

Just before the period came to a close, Casey Mittlestadt made it 4-2 Bruins by scoring his 15th goal of the season, coming off an assist from Fabian Lysell that marked the first point of his NHL career.

The third period opened with another goal for the Bruins, as Pastrnak set up Morgan Geekie to make it 5-2.

Pastrnak to Geekie has been a common connection in Boston this season, but this particular instance marked a major milestone for both players. The assist gave Pastrnak his third 100-point season, while Geekie reached the 30-goal benchmark for the first time in his career.

“I don’t know if you would have [believed you if you] told me at the start of the year that this is where I would’ve ended up,” said Geekie. “It’s something I’m going to cherish forever for sure.”

The score moved to 6-2 when newly called-up forward Fraser Minten scored his first goal as a member of the Bruins. At that point, the Devils pulled Markstrom and put Jake Allen between the pipes, only for Cole Koepke to beat him off the rush and secure the first 10-goal season of his career.

“There’s a lot of firsts tonight, and it’s always good, especially for them around the room,” Geekis said. “These are the things you remember, looking back in your career. To be able to share this moment with them is something that you know you definitely never forget as a team.”

Without much action taking place at his end of the ice, Jeremy Swayman finished the game with a quiet 19 saves on 21 shots.

Already eliminated from postseason contention, the result had little effect on the Bruins, but it did, however, delay the Devils from clinching a playoff berth for the time being.

The Bruins will see the Devils again in a week’s time but must first play host to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

FOLLOW ANDREW FANTUCCHIO ON 𝕏: @A_FANTUCCHIO

FOLLOW BOSTON HOCKEY NOW ON 𝕏 AND FACEBOOK