"He's an elite player in this league, one of the best left wingers in the game, and he's proving that year to year," Bergeron said. "Those numbers don't lie. It's not just about points but about what he does, the details, the penalty kill, and all the hard work."
Drew Stafford scored from low in the left face-off circle 14:51 of the second to pull the Devils within 2-1. Boston goalie Tuukka Rask made one of his 21 saves on a breakaway by Blake Coleman with the Bruins leading at 13:16.
"I thought eventually we would find our game; we're a veteran-enough group to know that," Cassidy said. "The Devils have had some trouble scoring, so as long as we managed the puck, we knew we'd be OK. You could sort of tell the way the guys were talking on the bench that we did make some plays that we needed to be stronger on, and they corrected themselves."
Danton Heinen gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead when he scored from the left face-off circle 29 seconds into the third period. Sean Kuraly blocked a shot attempt by Steven Santini at the Bruins blue line to send Heinen and Chris Wagner on a 2-on-1.
Bergeron scored after taking a seam pass from Pastrnak 18:34 into the first period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead and into an empty net at 18:42 of the third to make it 4-1. David Backes scored off a redirection past Schneider at 19:38 for the 5-1 final.
"We know [second place] is what we have in front of us right now," Bergeron said. "That's what we can work for. It's not easy; it's the last stretch and every point counts and we know Toronto is thinking the same way, but that's what we're kind of shooting for right now."
