On Tuesday night, the Boston Bruins traveled to Newark to face the New Jersey Devils in an attempt to spoil the Devils’ chance to clinch a spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And spoil it they did, in a dominant 7-2 victory. Jeremy Swayman made 19 saves en route to his 22nd win of the season. They improve to 32-38-9; the Devils fall to 41-30-7.
The Devils got out to a quick 8-3 shots advantage, but a rare Jesper Bratt turnover led to a David Pastrnak goal, putting the Bruins up 1-0. Then the momentum flipped, and the Bruins had seven of the next nine shots, including defenseman Michael Callahan’s first career goal to double their lead.
Mighty fine for his first 👌 pic.twitter.com/FQlNUDwrBs
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 8, 2025
Early in the second, Luke Hughes fumbled the puck and Jakub Lauko went the other way, picking the top corner to make it 3-0. But the Devils quickly made it interesting, as both Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier scored in a 19 second span. The crowd was rejuvenized and it looked like it would be a one-goal game heading into the second intermission, until inside the final minute. Casey Mittelstadt deflected a shot past Jacob Markstrom to bump the Bruins’ lead to 4-2.
The Bruins didn’t wait much longer to add insurance in the third. Morgan Geekie found twine early by jamming one in tight to make it 5-2. David Pastrnak notched the primary assist for his 100th point of the season. Then for good measure, Fraser Minten spun around and sniped one top shelf to make it 6-2.
From that point on, the Devils looked beyond flat. Cole Koepke poured it on by scoring on a partial breakaway to make it 7-2, and that’s where the score stood at the final horn.
The Bruins will return home to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night (7:00 PM EDT); the Devils will also remain home as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins, Friday night (7:00 PM EDT).
