Smithtown, New York native, Kyle Palmieri had the game’s only goal in a, 1-0, shutout win for the New Jersey Devils over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden as USA Hockey and NBC Sports Group celebrated “Hockey Day in America” on Sunday.
Scott Wedgewood (2-3-1, 2.33 goals against average, .923 save percentage in six games played) made 40 saves for his second shutout of the season for the Devils.
Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (8-4-2, 2.46 GAA, .906 SV% in 14 games played) stopped 24 out of 25 shots faced for a .960 SV% in the loss.
New Jersey improved to 6-2-1 on the road this season with the win, while Boston fell to 6-2-1 at home in 2020-21, as well as 1-2-1 against New Jersey this season.
The Bruins fell to 13-6-3 (29 points) and remained in 3rd place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the Devils improved to 8-11-2 (18 points) and stagnant in 7th place in the division.
Brandon Carlo (upper body) joined Ondrej Kase (upper body), Kevan Miller (knee) and Jeremy Lauzon (fractured left hand) on Boston’s list of injured players that were out of the lineup on Sunday.
Carlo was released from the hospital early Saturday morning and is feeling better, but likely going to be out of the lineup for a while.
Washington Capitals forward, Tom Wilson, was suspended seven games late Saturday night as a result of his in-person hearing via Zoom for his high hit on Carlo in Friday night’s game.
The National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety’s key points in their ruling mentioned that Wilson’s hit was an example of boarding, resulted in an injury and by a player with a suspension history (Wilson has now been suspended five times in his NHL career).
There was no penalty called on the play.
On Sunday, Wilson’s agent announced that Wilson and the National Hockey League Players’ Association would not appeal the suspension, citing a review of “all the pros and cons of an appeal and ultimately decid[ing] not to.”
Meanwhile, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy left his foward lines the same as they were on Friday night.
He did, however, jumble his defensive pairings, placing Matt Grzelcyk with Charlie McAvoy on the top pairing, Jakub Zboril with Connor Clifton on the second pairing and Jarred Tinordi with Urho Vaakanainen on his opposite hand.
John Moore, Sean Kuraly, Greg McKegg, Steven Kampfer and Callum Booth served as Boston’s healthy scratches and/or taxi squad members on Sunday.
Almost midway through the opening frame, Vaakanainen caught Janne Kuokkanen with a high stick and was sent to the penalty box at 7:19 of the first period.
New Jersey did not convert on the ensuing power play.
Moments later, Chris Wagner tripped Mikhail Maltsev at 13:34. Once again, the Devils were not successful on the resulting skater advantage.
After one period of play in Boston, the game remained tied, 0-0, with the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 12-10.
New Jersey, meanwhile, held the advantage in blocked shots (4-1), giveaways (4-3) and faceoff win percentage (58-42). Both teams had five takeaways and nine hits aside entering the first intermission.
The Devils were 0/2 on the power play and the B’s had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.
The middle frame brought more of the same.
Jake DeBrusk caught Travis Zajac with a high stick and was assessed a minor infraction at 9:14 of the second period, but New Jersey wasn’t able to score on the resulting power play– their third skater advantage of the night.
Late in the period, Jack Hughes settled the puck and whipped a shot past Rask’s glove side, but the goal was immediately waved off due to a hand pass.
Entering the second intermission, the Bruins and Devils were still tied, 0-0, despite Boston holding a, 22-19, advantage in shots on goal, including a, 10-9, advantage in the second period alone.
The B’s also led in blocked shots (7-6), takeaways (13-7) and giveaways (10-8), while New Jersey led in hits (17-14) and faceoff win% (53-47).
The Devils were 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins had yet to see any action on the power play through 40 minutes.
Early in the final frame of regulation, Dmitry Kulikov hooked Brad Marchand and was sent to the box.
Boston had their first power play of the evening at 5:26 of the third period, but failed to convert on the advantage.
Midway through the third, the Devils were shorthanded once again when Maltsev hooked Anders Bjork at 11:13. The Bruins did not score on the resulting power play.
Late in the third period, Palmieri (4) pocketed a rebound from point blank to give New Jersey the game’s first goal.
Pavel Zacha (10) and P.K. Subban (8) had the assists on the game’s only goal as the Devils took a, 1-0, lead at 15:23.
Cassidy pulled his goaltender with 1:45 remaining in the action, though Rask was holding his lower back and skating gingerly to the bench in pain.
The Bruins used their timeout after a stoppage in play with 1:17 remaining in the game, but could not muster a successful plan to tie the game and force overtime.
At the final horn, the Devils sealed the deal on a, 1-0, shutout.
Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 40-25, including an, 18-6, advantage in the third period alone.
The B’s also wrapped up Sunday’s action leading in giveaways (14-9), hits (22-19) and faceoff win% (54-46), while New Jersey finished the night leading in blocked shots (13-12).
The Devils finished Sunday’s action 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins went 0/2 on the power play.
Boston fell to 4-3-1 (2-2-1 at home) when tied after the first period and 3-4-2 (0-1-1 at home) when tied after the second period this season, while New Jersey improved to 3-4-1 (3-0-1 on the road) when tied after one period and 3-3-1 (2-0-1 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.
The B’s also fell to 4-4-2 (1-2-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal this season.
The Devils improved to 7-4-0 (5-1-0 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal in 2020-21.
The Bruins travel to Long Island for a matchup with the New York Islanders on Tuesday night before returning home for a two-game homestand against the New York Rangers on Thursday and Saturday.
