Bruins Grab a Point with Overtime Loss to Devils

NEWARK - Patrice Bergeron, Taylor Hall, and Sean Kuraly scored but the Bruins squandered two third-period leads and fell to the New Jersey Devils, 4-3, in overtime on Tuesday night at Prudential Center. Yegor Sharangovich tied the game for the Devils with 7:19 remaining, before Pavel Zacha ended it on a delayed penalty at 2:43 of the extra session.
"If you look at the chances we gave up, I don't think it was our best night from our back end in terms of defending in the middle of the ice, being good 1-on-1," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, whose club finished the season series against the Devils at 3-3-2. "We stayed in the game offensively and generating tonight. Had enough leads to put it away…I don't think we were as good as we needed to be, certainly, in front the net on the second goal. It was a nothing play, 2-on-2. Just not hard enough in that situation.
"The last [goal], we got beat 1-on-1 on the boards. Even overtime, that goal's tough on anybody. It's 4-on-3 in our zone, our guys are tired, they made a play. We need to close out better. Playing it simple, stuff we typically do better, we didn't tonight."

A night after clinching a spot in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kuraly admitted that there may have been a letdown in intensity for the Black & Gold, though that would not be used as an excuse for a poor third period.
"We talked about that," said Kuraly. "I guess you could make excuses all you want. You could find one every night if you want. That's not really what we're about. We made the playoffs last night...you can spin it anyway you want, I guess, but just turn the page every night. I think that's what we've been pretty good at, no matter what happens the night before."

Kuraly Pots Another

Kuraly potted his second goal in three games as the B's new-look third line continued its strong play. The trio of Kuraly, Charlie Coyle, and Nick Ritchie, once again, had a number of chances and Kuraly finished one off midway through the third when a David Pastrnak feed clanked off his skate and past Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to give Boston a 3-2 lead with 9:18 left.
"I was at the end of a shift. I saw Pasta out there, give him the puck and go to the net and good things happen when he's on the ice," said Kuraly. "Figured I'd make a read and tonight it worked out."

Coyle Leaves with Injury

Coyle missed the final frame with an undisclosed injury after appearing to get struck by a shot late in the second period. Cassidy did not have an update after the game, other than to say, "he's getting looked at…hopefully he's OK, but I haven't heard."
"He's been playing some good hockey," said Kuraly. "It's been fun to play with him and Ritch. Losing him definitely puts a kink in it. You've got to mix it up. The three of us felt really good together. But there's a lot of really good players on this team. We had Jake [DeBrusk] step in there and he did his thing, played well.
"Just hoping Charlie's all right. I think he'll be fine. But it's kind of a bummer to lose a guy like that who's playing really well."

Carlo Makes His Return

Brandon Carlo played for the first time since April 1 after missing 18 games with an oblique injury. The blue liner finished with three shots on goal and one hit in 20:51 of ice time and reported no ill effects after the game.
"I felt pretty good, felt like I was seeing the ice pretty well," said Carlo. "Depending on the partner I was out there with, was moving the puck out of the zone pretty well…it was great to get touches and hear every guy's voice on the ice. Felt like I was seeing the play well. Obviously, there's little things with getting your foot speed back. That takes some time. Overall, I didn't feel too far off."
Carlo played with both Matt Grzelcyk and Mike Reilly for extended periods on Tuesday night as the Bruins try to find the right pairings heading into the postseason.
"I think it's great to play with both of those guys," said Carlo. "Those are two guys that I can see myself pairing well with. They're great puck movers. I felt very comfortable with both of them. Felt like our communication was good, recognizing both of their voice, even though it was my first time playing with Mikey.
"Grizzy, as well, I've had a good comfort zone with him. Feel like our chemistry is good. With both of those guys, I feel very comfortable going out on the ice with them at any given moment and playing against any given line."