BOSTON — The Devils gave the surging Bruins a fight, but it wasn’t enough.
Brad Marchand scored a power-play goal early in the opening period and Tuukka Rask made it stand up with 20 saves for his third shutout of the season, lifting the surging Boston Bruins to a 1-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.
“I think it comes with the experience,” Rask said of his light night. “You just kind of hang out, watch the game, take it like a practice. You start thinking too much and you kind of (hurt) yourself. You let your experience come in.”
The victory improved the Bruins’ streak of at least one point in every game to 16 straight (12-0-4) and they haven’t lost in regulation since a 3-2 setback to the New York Rangers on Jan. 19. It’s their longest since 18 games (14-0-4) last season.
Rask is 14-0-3 in his last 17 starts.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 29 shots for the Devils, including Marchand’s penalty shot. New Jersey has lost five of seven.
“You realize it’s 1-nothing, but it’s not like I feel a ton of pressure to not let another one in,” he said. “It’s more so I want to keep feeling good about my game to give the guys a chance.”
It was the first time the Devils have been shut out since a 3-0 loss to Columbus on Dec. 23.
With Kenny Agostino in the penalty box for interfering with Rask, Marchand beat Blackwood with a wrister from the bottom of the right circle just 14 seconds into the power play after collecting a pass from Bergeron at 2:37. It was Bergeron’s 793rd career point, moving him into a sixth-place tie with Wayne Cashman on Boston’s all-time scoring list.
Marchand had his penalty shot after getting hooked by defenseman Damon Severson almost five minutes after his goal, but Blackwood made a right-pad stop.
Rask made a nice left-pad stop on winger Jesper Bratt, who cut in alone midway into the final period, bringing a loud roar from the crowd looking for some offense by the Bruins.
In the second period, the Bruins outshot the Devils 10-4, getting a couple of good chances in the final minute that Blackwood turned aside.