BOSTON (AP) — Marek Zidlicky and Andy Greene scored power-play goals 23 seconds apart late in the third period, lifting the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Bruins for the Devils (2-5-4).
Torey Krug, Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic scored first-period goals for Boston (7-3).
Adam Henrique and Damien Brunner also had power-play goals for the struggling Devils. Martin Brodeur stopped 25 shots after a rough start.
Iginla and David Krejci each had two assists as Boston built a 3-1 lead.
With the Devils skating with a 6-on-3 advantage after Krug was given a double minor for high sticking Brunner, Patrice Bergeron was whistled for delay of game and they pulled Brodeur, Zidlicky unloaded a shot from the point that beat Tuukka Rask with 1:08 to play. Green then scored the game-winner from the left circle on a 5-on-4 advantage at 19:15.
Rask made 28 saves.
New Jersey went 4 for 7 on the power play.
Coming off a last-second win against San Jose on Thursday, Boston grabbed a 2-0 lead on its first two shots of the game against Brodeur.
Krug’s power-play goal gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 7:52 of the opening period when he fired a slap shot from just above the right circle that ricocheted in off a Devils’ player in front of the net.
Boston made it 2-0 just 1:27 later when Iginla sent a shot from the right wing that caromed off Brunner’s skate and between Brodeur’s pads. Devils coach Peter DeBoer then called time out.
It may have served as a bit of a wake-up call for his team because they cut it to 2-1 on Henrique’s power-play goal when he swooped in and scored off the rebound off Eric Gelinas’ shot at 11:24.
But Krejci sent Lucic in alone down the left wing and he fired a wrister past Brodeur with 56 seconds left in the first.
The Devils played a more spirited second period and had a handful of decent scoring chances before Brunner’s goal sliced it to 3-2 with 27.1 seconds left in the period. He fired a backhander that slipped between Rask’s right arm and the post, trickling across the line.
NOTES: Boston had won 11 of the previous 12 games against New Jersey, with the lone loss in April 2011. … Bruins D Zdeno Chara was whistled for two minor penalties. … It was the first of three meetings between the teams this season, the only in Boston. … Boston is off until Wednesday when it plays at Pittsburgh in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference finals, swept by the Bruins. … The Devils host Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
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- New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, right, makes a save as Boston Bruins’ Milan Lucic, center, and Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky, of the Czech Republic, battle for position during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
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