Bruins Bounce Back Big with 8-1 Win Over Devils

Whatever frustration the Bruins felt after Tuesday’s humbling home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs they more than took it out on the lowly New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. The game looked more like a Varsity vs JV scrimmage as the B’s beat up on the last place Devils 8-1.

The Bruins broke the game wide open with a 6 goal second period. Boston got goals from Erik Haula, Jake Debrusk, Brad Marchand (2) Patrice Bergeron, Matt Grezylck, Taylor Hall, and Billerica native Marc McLaughlin playing in his first NHL game. More on him in a moment.

The B’s are now 42-20-5 and will look to improve that record as they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to the garden on Saturday night.  

 

3 STARS

Marc McLaughlin: How can we not put this kid in the three stars? McLaughlin’s first NHL goal was a thing of beauty. The former Boston College captain finished off a 2-1 rush, firing a one timer past Devils goaltender Jon at 12:04 of the second period to give Boston a 7-1 lead. In addition to his goal McLaughlin played an all around solid game subbing in for Craig Smith who was a late scratch with an illness. We’re not sure if the call-up was temporary but sure seems like the kid earned himself another look.

 

Mike Reilly: After being a healthy scratch in the last two games, Reilly jumped back into the lineup and played like a man who wants to stay there. Reilly not only had a beautiful assist on Brad Marchand’s second of the night, but he was physical as well. Reilly came to the defense of teammate Charlie McAvoy and dropped the gloves with Miles Wood after Wood leveled McAvoy with a big hit behind the Bruins net. That’s the kind of thing that’s been missing from the Bruins this season and was nice to see.

Jake Debrusk: He may not want to be here but Jake DeBrusk continues to play some of his best hockey for Boston. After an eight game goal-less drought DeBrusk scored for a third straight game and added an assist. The entire Bruins first line of Bergeron, Marchand, DeBrusk was cranking with each forward scoring at least one goal. The line finished the night with 7 points and a plus 8.

So that happened…

In addition to Reilly, newly acquired Josh Brown made his Bruins debut and the big physical defenseman announced his presence with authority. Just 38 seconds into his first shift Brown dropped the gloves with Devils tough guy Mason Geertsen. Brown logged 10 minutes of ice time on the Bruins 3rd D-pairing but did leave the game early due to an upper-body injury.

That’s what he said…

We’ve got to come back to McLaughlin for this one. A dream come true for the kid from Billerica who grew up idolizing Patrice Bergeron. McLaughlin said of his goal, he had been playing out this exact moment in his head his entire life.

“Yeah, it was pretty special. I feel like I’ve lived that moment as a kid 100 million times down in my basement or shooting pucks or something,” McLaughlin said after the win. “But for it to come true here and get in a game and obviously be able to contribute with goal, it’s really special. Coming into it, the boys definitely loosened me up a bit, made me feel comfortable in the room. I feel like that went a long way getting out there for the first time.”

 

Tuukka Time…

The Bruins honored recently retired goaltender Tuukka Rask in a pregame ceremony and puck drop. Prior to the ceremony Rask spoke to the media about his decision to walk away from hockey. Rask cut short a comeback attempt from hip surgery in February. He played 4 games with the Bruins and never looked like his old self.

“It was just time to be honest with yourself,” Rask said about his performance upon returning. “I could have kept pushing, but what’s the benefit of me playing at 60 percent and kind of taking time off, taking a week off here, taking two weeks off, and kind of taking a spot away from [Jeremy Swayman]?. So I figured it was more beneficial for everybody to call it. I had a great career and I have no regrets.”