McAvoy helps Bruins defeat Devils, win third straight

NEWARK, N.J. --Rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy scored in the 11th round of the shootout to give the Boston Bruins their third straight victory with a 3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Wednesday.
Jake DeBrusk and Patrice Bergeron scored in the first period and Anton Khudobin made 40 saves for the Bruins (9-7-4). Khudobin, who is 6-0-2 in eight starts this season, has allowed four goals during the winning streak.

WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Devils highlights]
After Taylor Hall scored in the first round of the tiebreaker, Khudobin didn't allow a goal, including making five saves. David Pastrnak scored in the second round of the shootout for Boston.

"We're playing with our heart right now; we put everything into one game and focus on that game and after the game, win or lose, we go to next game," Khudobin said. "I think that's important and hard work pays off. When guys are playing like this, you might not win all the time, but when you see the effort you energize your teammate."
McAvoy, who led all skaters in ice time (27:04), scored his first shootout goal on his first attempt off a backhand.
"I don't have a go-to move or anything like that but I just thought it would be [a move] the guys didn't throw at [Devils goalie Cory Schneider]," McAvoy said. "Guys were trying five-hole and he was challenging pretty good, so I thought maybe if he was out, I could try and pull it by him."
Jesper Bratt and Brian Gibbons scored and Schneider made 27 saves for the Devils (12-5-4). Schneider has held opponents to three goals or fewer in six of his past seven starts (2-2-3, 17 goals allowed).

"I think you have to give Boston a little bit of credit," Devils coach John Hynes said. "I thought they came out hard. Unfortunately for us, we made a couple mistakes early and they [scored]. I don't think we came out flat by any means."
Gibbons scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2 with 4:44 remaining in regulation off a deflection in the slot after a Bruins penalty expired.
DeBrusk scored off a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Schneider inside the left post at 1:25, and Bergeron scored from the left circle off a pass from Pastrnak at 11:02 for a 2-0 lead.

"We've talked about closing out close games and this game took us longer than we wanted but we found a way; we need more of that now," Bergeron said.
Bratt's sixth goal of the season made it 2-1 after he collected a loose puck at the right post and put a wrist shot over the left leg of Khudobin for a power-play goal at 17:10. The goal was upheld after Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy challenged for goalie interference on Brian Boyle.
"It's tough; we carried the game for the most part in the third period and have to find a way to grab one in the shootout," Devils forward Adam Henrique said. "I thought we did a good job at times of getting into our game in the first period, but a couple mistakes end up in our net."
With starter Tuukka Rask struggling, Khudobin was asked if he expected to start a fourth straight game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
"That's a question to the coach," he said. "My role is the same. If I'm going to play on Friday, then I'll play. If not, that's the coaches' decision, but I'm getting ready every day."

Goal of the game

McAvoy's winning goal in the 11th round of the shootout.

Save of the game

Khudobin's save on Blake Coleman on a shorthanded breakaway 9:25 into the second period.

Highlight of the game

Gibbons' goal at 15:16 of the third period.

They said it

"I watched a bit of the guys in practice [working on the shootout] and I'm not sure [McAvoy] has ever taken one when we've watched, to be honest. But he likes big moments and he seems to rise up, so now I think what the (heck) took me so long to put him in there, but good for him." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
"Obviously we don't want to be down going into the third but we threw a lot at them and Khudobin is playing well right now. His defensemen are letting him see pucks and clearing out rebounds and he's stopping everything he sees, it seems." -- Devils goalie Cory Schneider

Need to know

Bruins defenseman Torey Krug (upper body) missed his third straight game and forward Brad Marchand (undisclosed) missed his fourth straight. ... Devils forward Kyle Palmieri (broken right foot) was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Nov. 20. He's expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

What's next

Bruins:Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday (1 p.m. ET; NBC, NHL.TV)
Devils:Host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, SNP, NHL.TV)