Surging Bruins look to keep up mastery of Devils

DEVILS (1-5-4) at BRUINS (7-2-0)

TV: MSG PLUS 2, NESN

Season series: The Boston Bruins won all three meetings against the New Jersey Devils by a single goal in 2012-13. This is the first of three meetings this season.

Big story: A little over 24 hours after Devils goalie Martin Brodeur declared Cory Schneider the team's No. 1 goalie for the foreseeable future, the 27-year-old Schneider experienced his worst outing with his new team on Thursday in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Schneider's giveaway off a dump-in in the first period led to a goal by Ryan Kesler and his misjudged bank attempt off the backboards in the second led to another by Daniel Sedin -- both times the Devils were holding a one-goal lead. In the end, he blamed himself for the loss.

"For me personally, I expect more of myself and when my team plays like that, you've got to respond and pull your weight," Schneider said. "We were challenged a little bit before this game and everyone really stepped up and I didn't really rise to the challenge there in the first two periods."

Team Scope:

Devils: The big positive coach Peter DeBoer took from the shootout loss to the Canucks was the play of rookie defenseman Eric Gelinas, who was making his season debut. Gelinas was recalled from the team's American Hockey League affiliate in Albany on Wednesday when Bryce Salvador had to fly home after learning of a death in his family. The 22-year-old Gelinas played with poise and confidence and even scored his first NHL goal while working with the first power-play unit in the first period.

"Gelly makes a huge difference," forward Jaromir Jagr said. "He was unbelievable. He was the best player on the ice. He made the right plays. He was skating, made the right plays. I felt like we didn't play risky and when we had the chance to make the plays, he made the plays."

Bruins: David Krejci tipped home Adam MacQuaid's shot from the right point with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation to give the surging Bruins a 2-1 triumph over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday at TD Garden. The victory was the fourth straight for the Bruins, who were outshot 39-17 by the Sharks but still managed to win due in large part to the play of goalie Tuukka Rask. Rask, who finished with 38 saves, made 16 stops in the first period and 13 in the third. Jarome Iginla scored his first goal as a member of the Bruins and the 531st of his career to give the home team a 1-0 edge late in the second.

"You want to try to be a good team, and teams try to find ways to win in different ways," forward Milan Lucic said. "[Rask] made some huge stops, especially in the first period and also in the second to keep us in it. We got some momentum right now, and hopefully we can finish off this three [games] in four [days] on a positive note [Saturday]."

Who's hot: Devils wing Patrik Elias, who returned to the lineup on Thursday after missing the previous two games with an illness, has a goal and an assist in the past two games for New Jersey. … Lucic, who leads the Bruins with 10 points, has two goals, three assists and a plus-5 rating in the past three games.

Injury report: Forward Ryane Clowe (head) is out for the Devils and Salvador (personal reasons) is questionable. … Bruins forward Loui Eriksson is out indefinitely with a concussion he sustained Oct. 23 against the Buffalo Sabres.