BOSTON (AP) — Marek Zidlicky and Andy Greene scored power-play goals 23 seconds apart late in the third period, lifting the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Bruins for the Devils (2-5-4).
Torey Krug, Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic scored first-period goals for Boston (7-3).
Adam Henrique and Damien Brunner also had power-play goals for the struggling Devils. Martin Brodeur stopped 25 shots after a rough start.
Iginla and David Krejci each had two assists as Boston built a 3-1 lead.
With the Devils skating with a 6-on-3 advantage after Krug was given a double minor for high sticking Brunner, Patrice Bergeron was whistled for delay of game and they pulled Brodeur, Zidlicky unloaded a shot from the point that beat Tuukka Rask with 1:08 to play. Green then scored the game-winner from the left circle on a 5-on-4 advantage at 19:15.
Rask made 28 saves.
New Jersey went 4 for 7 on the power play.
Coming off a last-second win against San Jose on Thursday, Boston grabbed a 2-0 lead on its first two shots of the game against Brodeur.
Krug’s power-play goal gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 7:52 of the opening period when he fired a slap shot from just above the right circle that ricocheted in off a Devils’ player in front of the net.
Boston made it 2-0 just 1:27 later when Iginla sent a shot from the right wing that caromed off Brunner’s skate and between Brodeur’s pads. Devils coach Peter DeBoer then called time out.
It may have served as a bit of a wake-up call for his team because they cut it to 2-1 on Henrique’s power-play goal when he swooped in and scored off the rebound off Eric Gelinas’ shot at 11:24.
But Krejci sent Lucic in alone down the left wing and he fired a wrister past Brodeur with 56 seconds left in the first.
The Devils played a more spirited second period and had a handful of decent scoring chances before Brunner’s goal sliced it to 3-2 with 27.1 seconds left in the period. He fired a backhander that slipped between Rask’s right arm and the post, trickling across the line.
NOTES: Boston had won 11 of the previous 12 games against New Jersey, with the lone loss in April 2011. … Bruins D Zdeno Chara was whistled for two minor penalties. … It was the first of three meetings between the teams this season, the only in Boston. … Boston is off until Wednesday when it plays at Pittsburgh in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference finals, swept by the Bruins. … The Devils host Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
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