Ryan Spooner, Drew Stafford help Bruins eke by Devils

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BOSTON – It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t Boston’s best, but the Bruins ended a slog-fest against New Jersey with the two points in the “only thing that matters” department. 

The Bruins fought through an overturned power play goal and a runaway siren that inadvertently stopped play twice in the third period en route to a 3-2 regulation win over the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden. A wide open Ryan Spooner goal on the doorstep in the third period proved to be the game-winner, and also gave newly acquired Drew Stafford his first point in a Bruins uniform as the primary assist guy on the play. 

It was Spooner’s 11th goal of the season and another game where his third line was the difference between winning and losing for the Black and Gold. 

The Bruins never trailed in the game after Torey Krug’s power play strike midway through the second period, and thought they had a quick two-goal lead on a Drew Stafford power play goal after he bulled his way to the Jersey net. But the referees overturned it as goalie interference following a coach’s challenge from the Devils, and moments later Devante Smith-Pelly scored a shorthanded goal for New Jersey to tie things up. 

The B’s regained the lead when Brandon Carlo stepped up and backhanded home a deflected pass from Patrice Bergeron for his sixth goal of the season, but once again the Devils tied it in the third period on an odd-man rush with Taylor Hall feeding Kyle Palmieri for the game-tying strike. 

The Bruins never buckled under the factors working against them in a game they needed to win, however, and Frank Vatrano hunted down a puck behind the Devils net in the third period that set things in motion for Spooner’s game-winning goal. 

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