The Boston Bruins will look to add to the win column on Monday afternoon when they plan the New Jersey Devils to open a five-game homestand.
The Bruins curbed a streak of three straight losses after regulation with a 4-3 overtime victory at St. Louis on Saturday night to wrap up a four-game road trip.
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy and captain Brad Marchand each scored two goals to lead the Bruins on Saturday. McAvoy registered his sixth career overtime goal for Boston, which is 2-0-3 in its past five games.
“We felt good about our game even though they clawed back,” Marchand said. “I thought we dropped the ball a couple of times. We were confident. We felt good about the situation we were in. We kind of had that desperation and confidence (on Saturday) that allowed us to persevere.”
Injuries also were a key storyline while the Bruins played out the road trip. Rookie forward Matt Poitras (shoulder) and goaltender Linus Ullmark (lower body) both exited the team’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.
Recently named All-Star Jeremy Swayman made his second straight start on Saturday, but Ullmark did participate in morning skate.
“Really good sign,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of Ullmark. “He’s progressing faster than we anticipated. It was his first day on the ice, so he’s just starting his process of becoming a player again.”
Defenseman Brandon Carlo, who sustained an upper-body injury last Monday in Colorado, was placed on long-term injured reserve.
Pavel Zacha was also scratched in St. Louis due to illness, but the Bruins found a way.
“We wanted to end this road trip off, and it was really special for our guys to take initiative and get it done in overtime,” Swayman said. “So, it’s a special win and something that we’re going to build on moving forward.”
The Devils also have been shorthanded after losing Timo Meier, Ondrej Palat and Jonas Siegenthaler to lower-body injuries and Jack Hughes to an upper-body injury.
However, New Jersey comes to Boston with momentum after recording a 4-1 win in Florida on Saturday.
Jesper Bratt scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the first period for the Devils, who snapped the Panthers’ nine-game winning streak.
“We came out hard. We played hard. Won a lot of battles, Checked hard,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “The thing I’m most impressed with is the checking mentality. Our 5-on-5 game the last two games has been as good as it’s been all year.”
Bratt scored his team co-leading 16th goal of the season to increase his point total to a club-best 46.
The Panthers answered in the last minute of Saturday’s second period, but John Marino’s late goal gave the Devils the final separation and capped a strong finishing effort.
“I liked how we closed the game,” New Jersey forward Michael McLeod said. “We talked about being able to play with the lead. They got one late in the second, and I was impressed how we did not panic.”
Nico Daws made 36 saves in his fourth start over a seven-game span.
“We were undermanned a little bit and you lean on our goalie to give you some quality saves,” Ruff said.
Saturday’s win at Florida moved the Devils to 1-0-1 on a three-game road trip, which concludes with the last of three meetings against Boston this season.
The Devils posted a 2-1 overtime win over the Bruins on Dec. 13. Boston, in turn, responded with a 5-2 victory over New Jersey on Dec. 30.
