The Bruins fell to the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in the shootout in a matinee at TD Garden. In a game that was all about the goaltenders, Martin Brodeur made history by becoming the NHL leader in minutes played by a goaltender, surpassing Patrick Roy on the all-time list. Brodeur has now logged 60,215 minutes over his 17 year NHL career. Brodeur turned aside 32 shots, while Tuukka Rask continued his strong play in the Bruins net with 36 saves.
Zach Parise put the Devils up 1-0 9:45 into the second period when he jammed the puck in off of a scrum in front of Rask's net.
Blake Wheeler got the equalizer for the B's 12 seconds into the third period. Byron Bitz slid a cross-crease pass to Wheeler, who was stationed by the left post and quickly swept the puck into the net.
The same two guys that found the back of the net in regulation (Wheeler & Parise) were also successful in the shootout. With the shootout knotted up at 1-1, it was up to Jamie Langenbrunner to seal the win for the Devils. Langenbrunner skated in and fired a snap shot that beat Rask five hole.
Notes:
- Bad news on the Milan Lucic injury front: Lucic is expected to miss about 4 weeks with a high ankle sprain.
- I thought that Brodeur would have gotten a bigger ovation for breaking Roy's record. They announced his achievement over the PA system. It seemed like the crowd was starting to give a standing ovation and then they quickly dropped the puck.
- The Bruins have earned points in 10 of their last 11 games.
- Shawn Thornton scored the take-down in his bout with Andrew Peters, Peters landed a few solid blows.
- The B's won't have much time to think about this loss. They are back in action tomorrow night against Northeast Division rivals, the Ottawa Senators.