GOLD STAR: Ryan Spooner had a goal and two points, and had a big game filling in for the injured David Krejci at a time when the Bruins really needed a good result. It was Spooner that broke things open in the second period when he executed a surprise curl-and-fire shot from the high point that seemed to catch Cory Schneider off guard. That was his career-best ninth goal of the season, and he added the secondary assist to the Colin Miller goal in the third period that truly ice things for the Black and Gold. In his last four games, Ryan Spooner has a goal and six points along with 11 shots on net that are providing exactly kind of offense Boston needed with Krejci out.
BLACK EYE: Cory Schneider did make 27 saves for the Devils, but he wasn’t as good as New Jersey was going to need him to be in order to take this game away from the Bruins. The second goal allowed to Ryan Spooner wasn’t a very good one as it was a deep wrist shot aided by a bit of a screen, but also a shot that it didn’t seem like Schneider expected to come his way. He was beaten in the third period on a one-time bomb from Colin Miller that somehow got through him in another goal he’d probably want to stop. Though it was a clapper that I’m not sure many would really blame him for.
TURNING POINT: The Devils had the Bruins scrambling a little bit in the second period on a power play after Kevan Miller’s stick snapped, and left the B’s penalty kill unit running around. They did manage to kill the Devils PP, but New Jersey still had good pressure even after the penalty expired for the Bruins. It culminated in a Jordin Tootoo wide open blast from the slot with Jonas Gustavsson out of position, but Tootoo hit the low left post with his scorched shot. Shortly afterward Jimmy Hayes scored the game’s third goal and really put things out of reach, and that Tootoo chance turned out to be “win or lose time” for the Devils.
HONORABLE MENTION: The Bruins needed their defensemen crew to step up with Adam McQuaid down and out of the lineup, and Dennis Seidenberg did just that on Friday night against the New Jersey Devils. He finished with 20 minutes of ice time with a couple of helpers, including a slick dish to Colin Miller for the third period one timer, and a plus-3 rating while also doing all of the grunt work in the defensive zone. The Bruins will continue to need that kind of turn-back-the-clock effort from Seidenberg moving forward until McQuaid can come back to full health.
BY THE NUMBERS: 3,000 – the number of wins for the Boston Bruins organization as the second NHL team to reach that milestone. The first team to do it? You don’t even have to ask … it’s the Montreal Canadiens.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We’re in a battle with other teams in the division, and we’ve got games in hand. These are the kind of games you have to win when you’ve got games in hand.” – Claude Julien, on needing a solid result on Friday against the New Jersey Devils.