Boston Bruins escape with 3-2 shootout win over New Jersey Devils behind Tuukka Rask’s late dominance

Brad Marchand’s goal on the final shot of the shootout gave the Bruins, a happy ending on opening night of their 2021 season.

Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, who’d been strong all game, gave Marchand too much space under his pads and the Bruins forward found the hole for a 3-2 victory in Newark, New Jersey.

Tuukka Rask was outstanding in the three-on-three overtime and the shootout. He stoned Kyle Palmieri on an end-to-end breakaway with 1:19 left. He turned back Yegor Sharangovich from close range and then stopped Jack Hughes in the final 10 seconds to force the shootout. He stopped all three shootout attempts to set the table for Marchand.

The game was the first of eight games between the temporary East Division rivals. The Bruins (1-0) and Devils (0-1) won’t have to wait long for the second. They’ll play again Saturday at 1 p.m. at TD Garden.

Bruce Cassidy elected to start Kevan Miller, who was playing his first game since April, 2019. With Zdeno Chara gone, Miller embraced his role as the team’s most physical defensemen right away.

The veteran defenseman’s presence seemed to give his team a little lift early on. The Bruins were definitively better throughout the first period dominating shots (16-4) and faceoffs (13-5).

Early returns on the power play without Torey Krug were positive as they took the lead with a man advantage. David Krejci made a terrific poke check at the point to thwart a weak New Jersey break out. Patrice Bergeron backhanded it to back to Krejci skating back down the right wing. He threaded a perfect pass to Marchand racing to the left post. The veteran forward tapped it in to put Boston up 1-0 with 2:20 left in the first.

The Bruins continued to control play, but couldn’t stretch their lead against Blackwood. The young goalie was good, but the Devils were effective at keeping the Boston players from affecting his eye line. New Jersey nearly tied the game late in the period when Pavel Zacha got a breakaway. Rask made a tough save look easier than it was with a kick save from a tough angle with 4.9 seconds left in the game.

But the Bruins weren’t as fortunate when the Devils got another breakaway in the third. This time Miles Wood beat Rask high to tie the game at 1-1 with 11:09 left.

Nick Ritchie, who never quite found either rhythm or a role after getting traded to the Bruins last year, pulled the Bruins back ahead. Camped off the post on the power play, Marchand found him for the tap-in with 6:48 left.

The celebration was short-lived. Devils’ defenseman Ty Smith’s shot bounced through traffic off Charlie McAvoy and eluded Rask 34 seconds later to make it 2-2 with 6:14 left forcing overtime.

Rask finished with 16 saves on a night where the Devils seemed intent on running him repeatedly. Blackwood stopped 27 shots for New Jersey.

Notes: Free agent signee Craig Smith will have to wait to make his Bruins debut. The projected third-line wing was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. Trent Frederic skated with Charlie Coyle and Nick Ritchie in his absence making an already rugged trio even more so.

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