Devils' 2-1 OT Win vs. Bruins: Grinding Away

The New Jersey Devils had to grind and scrap for two points against the Boston Bruins to come away with one of their best wins of 2023-24.

Last night was never going to be an easy task for the New Jersey Devils. The Boston Bruins came into the game with an 18-5-3 record to place them atop the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. The Devils had to grind away for the two points, but they did so in a deserved 2-1 overtime win. Here are three takeaways from the victory. 

Vanecek Shines

Given how Akira Schmid has looked the last few games, the thought was he'd get the start against the Bruins. That wasn't the case, as Vitek Vanecek was in the starter's net at the morning skate, meaning it was his net to man in a pivotal matchup. 

Vanecek did play well in the first period, making five saves in the first three minutes when the Bruins came out guns blazing from the opening puck drop. It wasn't until he gave up a bad rebound on Morgan Geekie's goal that made it 1-0 Bruins that he had a blunder. 

It felt like that goal could be another "ah, well, here we go again" performance from Vanecek, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. He made 24 saves on 25 shots while stopping 2.08 goals above expected and was fantastic after giving up the first goal. 

What was most notable about Vanecek's performance is that he stopped seven of the eight high-danger shots he faced, good for a high-danger save percentage of .875. That has been a big-time struggle for him this season, so that was a positive development. 

But that wasn't the only thing Vanecek did well. He made timely saves throughout the night, like when he stopped David Pastrnak at the end of the second period after Pastrnak was one-on-one with Šimon Nemec. Pastrnak put a move on Nemec and gave himself a clear path to Vanecek, but he made the save to keep it 1-0. 

There was another sequence in the third period with about seven minutes left where Vanecek made three consecutive saves, a couple with his right pad, then working his way around to the opposite post and kicking the puck out with his left pad. 

Those were the timely saves the Devils were missing from him this season, but he made them last night in his best outing of 2023-24. That's two straight quality starts for Vanecek after having a solid performance against the Calgary Flames over the weekend. Hopefully, that becomes a consistent trend. The Devils will win plenty of games if it does. 

Bahl & Marino Locked Down Pastrnak

It's been an up-and-down season for the Kevin Bahl and John Marino pairing. They struggled in the Devils' 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers a few days ago, but they rebounded with a stellar outing against the Bruins.