In Newark, Mackenzie Blackwood made 28 saves to help the Devils defeat the visiting Boston Bruins, 3-2, after the skills competition on Tuesday.
Blake Coleman and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils in regulation.
“This is a new group with a lot of new faces,” Blackwood said. “Everyone has each other’s back and no one has any quit in them. Whether we get down a goal or two, everyone plays the same way. I think we’re really starting to learn how to win and what it takes to play the right way.”
Brad Marchand and Joakim Nordstrom were the Boston strikers in regulation.
“It’s tough to lose that game,” Marchand said. “We were in control. The Devils are playing really well, they’re scoring a lot of goals and playing fast. They have nothing to lose. They’re going to try and exploit you more than anything and we stopped taking care of pucks, allowed their transition game to come into play, and they were making a lot of plays. They were jumping four guys and we were lazy coming back, so we have to be better at managing the puck.”
The skills copmpetition went six rounds with Damon Severson netting the deciding goal.
[WATCH: All Bruins vs. Devils highlights]
Jaroslav Halak made 42 saves in the loss.
“We kind of sat back and they were getting quick chips into our zone with speed and getting some good offensive-zone time in our end,” Boston’s Patrice Bergeron said. “I think they simplified their game and got good results.”
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