BOSTON (AP) — Scott Wedgewood made 40 saves, Kyle Palmieri scored out of a scramble with 4:37 left and the New Jersey Devils snapped a five-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask made 24 saves and remained stuck at 299 career victories. The Bruins have lost four of six games.
All four games between the teams have been decided by one goal, including one in overtime and another by a shootout. The Devils are 3-0-1 against Boston.
Palmieri scored about two minutes after Wedgewood robbed Craig Smith’s bid at the end of a Bruins’ power play. Wedgewood came out to cut down the angle on Smith's shot from the right circle.
Wedgewood had not played since Jan. 30.
“Once I got back in it, it felt like home and it was fun,” he said. “I definitely had some nerves that I hadn't felt in a while.”
Boston pulled Rask and had the puck in the Devils’ zone for nearly all of the final 90 seconds, but Wedgewood blocked several good chances to preserve his fourth career shutout.
“At the end of the day, we defended well against them,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Just didn't do enough on offense.”
Coming off a pointless, five-game homestand that closed with a sloppy 6-3 loss to the Rangers on Saturday, the Devils looked determined and disciplined from the start, bottling up the neutral zone and limiting Boston’s chances.
“Obviously the game (Saturday) afternoon was a bit of a low point for us,” Palmieri said. “It was time to take a look at things that make us successful. As a group we can be proud of our effort tonight."
Wedgewood made two nice stops on David Pastrnak; the second came with 4 ½ minutes left in the second period when the star forward shifted around defenseman Sami Vatanen and fired a wrister from the slot that the netminder stopped with his right pad.
In the opening period, Wedgewood slid across the crease to rob Pastrnak’s close bid from near the left post after he collected a pass from Charlie McAvoy.
“We played the way we needed to play,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “We got a great effort by four lines and six defenseman, and a great effort by Wedgewood.”
New Jersey looked for long, breakout passes in the second period and nearly converted when Pavel Zacha went in on a semi-breakaway, but he had his backhander turned aside by Rask’s left-pad save.
New Jersey had two power-play opportunities in the opening period but was limited to a few relatively harmless shots.
“They're not up there in the standings, but they've had our number this year,” Boston forward Charlie Coyle said.
HORROR FILM
Ruff had his team watch video Sunday morning of their loss to the Rangers.
“Today was all video, all review, all real hard honestly about how poorly we played,” he said during a pregame videoconference. “Those meetings are 95% head coach because ultimately I feel responsible for how the team played. That’s on me.”
CARLO UPDATE
Cassidy said Sunday morning that defenseman Brandon Carlo “is feeling better” and home after a head hit into the glass by Washington’s Tom Wilson sent him to the hospital in an ambulance Friday night.
“He’s obviously going to be out for a while,” Cassidy said.
Wilson was suspended seven games by the league.
WHAT’S NEXT
Devils: At the Capitals on Tuesday night, the second of a three-game road trip.
Bruins: At the Islanders Tuesday. Boston has lost all three meetings against them this season.
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