The Devils' hopes of a three-game homestand sweep were stymied by the Boston Bruins, who came away with a 5-2 victory against New Jersey Saturday afternoon at Prudential Center.
Brad Marchand scored twice for Boston, which also got goals from Erik Haula, Patrice Bergeron and DeBrusk.
The Devils' goal scorers were Dawson Mercer and Jesper Bratt.
New Jersey finished 2-1 on the homestand, netting four of six points, thanks to wins against Florida and NY Islanders.
Devils' Homestand Sweep Thwarted by Bruins in Loss | GAME STORY
Brad Marchand scores twice as New Jersey falls, 5-2, to the Bruins Saturday afternoon
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The Devils hit the road for a rivalry matchup against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
Here are some observations from the game...
- Recently, general manager Tom Fitzgerald pulled Dawson Mercer aside and delivered a message. He told him to start house hunting.
Typically, a young player lives out of a hotel until they know that they're officially on the team for the long haul. Only then will they look for legitimate housing. Mercer has only played 13 NHL games (counting tonight), but he will likely spend his entire campaign in New Jersey.
Against the Bruins, Mercer was doing what he does best: making an impact. He finished the game with two points after scoring a goal and setting up another. Mercer was the trailer on a 3-on-2 rush and netted his tally with a wicked shot in the slot. Late in the second period, he somehow had eyes in the back of his head because he collected the puck in the slot, faked out goalie Jeremy Swayman and then found Jesper Bratt (behind him) at the side of the net.
"You call for the puck but at the same time Dawson has great hockey sense. He probably knew I was there anyway," Bratt said. "He's a good kid. He wants to learn. He wants to be better. He's played really well so far. He has a good mentality, too. He wants to be an impact player. Those are the type of guys that we want in the lineup."
Mercer did take a tripping penalty in the second period (one in which the Bruins scored). But he responded just 28 seconds after that goal with his own tally. The penalty wasn't good, but the response showed his character and determination to make amends.
"He just wants to go out and try to contribute. I think he feels early in the year he took a couple penalties and one cost us a game. His bounce back is really good," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "His determination to make up for some mistake or some individual play ... a lot of times it's what are you going to do after the mistake. I have no issue if something goes wrong with Dawson that he is going to try to change the way the game is going for us."
- The Devils trio of Mercer, Bratt and Johnsson combined for five points and figured in on both New Jersey goals. It's hard to argue that right now, they aren't the team's top line.
"Our speed. Our skating has been really good. We're staying on top of pucks and we're hunting pucks back," Bratt said. "We have the puck a lot. we want to play with speed. We want to create chances every time we're on the ice. I like the mentality we have on our line. We want to be that line every night."
"They made a lot of good plays," Ruff said. "They seem to be gaining some chemistry. ... That seems to be a line that's catching a little fire for us."
- This was a game of turnovers, on both sides. Each team committed its fair share of giveaways and it seemed most of the opposing club's opportunities came from those turnovers.
A Ty Smith turnover led to the game's opening goal for Boston's Erik Haula. A Bruins turnover led to Mercer scoring on a tic-tac-toe rush. Pavel Zacha had a breakaway from a Brandon Carlo interception. And a Devils turnover at the Boston blue line led to a Curtis Lazar shorthanded breakaway. This game was determined by which team could make the other pay for its mistakes.
- Speaking of Zacha, he had an excellent game. He was in on a lot of the offensive action, created chances and stole a few pucks. He was highly visible and creating headaches for the Bruins. Would love to see more of that from him. - The Bruins came in on the Devils goal for a 2-on-1 with Marchand and Bergeron. Devils blueliner Dougie Hamilton was the lone man back. Marchand's attempted cross-ice pass was swatted away by Hamilton. It's plays like that which show the importance and impact Hamilton has had on the Devils. He made an incredible play, and he made it look easy.
