BOSTON, MA -The Devils finish their season-long six-game, 10-day road trip in Boston tonight, and it comes against a team that New Jersey, for whatever reason, has enjoyed a lot of success against.
Despite nine points separating the two teams in the East Division standings, New Jersey is 4-0-1 against the Bruins on the year. Every single game has been decided by one goal, with a few needing an overtime or shootout.
In fact, the Devils have only had a two-goal lead in one of the five games against the Bruins, though Boston pulled within one during the contest.
"One thing that we're learning to do and continue to learn how to do is how to defend a one-goal lead," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said Tuesday afternoon, "and not give up opportunities and finish those one-goal games."
Ruff noted that learning how to buckle down and preserve a win in a close game is "equally important" to learning how to build a two- or three-goal lead.
"It would be nice," he said of adding to their leads. "The one thing that's been common is we've missed our ability to finish teams off. We've missed great opportunities to get them down a couple goals in a game.
"I'd like to have a little bit of breathing room, but until we finish the good quality chances it just seems like the whole year we've been in those tight games."
In order to uphold a one-goal lead in a game requires both excellent goaltending and great defensive play. The Devils have had both against the Bruins.
Boston is a team that derives most of its offense from one line - Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak. While New Jersey hasn't kept the triumvirate completely off the scoresheet, the Devils have held them, and the entire Bruins roster, to zero goals at even-strength. That is not a typo. In five games, the Devils have surrendered zero 5-on-5 goals in 309:58 minutes.
And, perhaps the biggest factor in that ridiculous stat is that the Devils have keyed in on trying to keep the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak trio at bay.
"We tried to stay away from the high-quality rush chances," Ruff said. "As dynamic as they can be with Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak, if you give them the up-ice rush opportunities and odd-number rushes, they're a team that makes you pay dearly. So, No. 1 that's probably the best thing we've done."
And when there have been breakdowns defensively, the Devils have received incredible goaltending to make up for it.
While New Jersey has been perfect at even-strength, it still wants to improve on its penalty kill, which has surrendered all five goals allowed to the Bruins during the season series.
"We needed a lot of good saves on our penalty killing last game," Ruff said. "Some of it we didn't execute when we had opportunities to get the puck down the ice to get fresh bodies out there. We didn't get the puck down the ice. A better job of getting bodies in places to support each other and making sure when we have a chance for a 200-foot clear that we get it down the ice."
