For a hockey team that is supposed to be in rebuilding mode, the Devils have enjoyed refreshing success against the best team in the NHL's East Division.
Kyle Palmieri scored his first two goals of the season – including the second short-handed tally of his career – to help New Jersey dispatch host Boston, 3-2, Thursday at TD Garden.
The Devils (6-3-2) are now enjoying their first three-game win streak in nearly a year as a result of dealing the Bruins (10-3-2) their third regulation loss of the season. The Islanders had been the only team to prevent Boston from gaining a point in 2021.
Coupled with Tuesday's triumph over the Rangers, New Jersey could not have asked for a better start to its stretch of eight games in 13 days following a two-week COVID-19 layoff.
"We've got fresh legs, I guess," Palmieri told the MSG+2 broadcast crew.
Palmieri entered COVID-19 protocol on Jan. 31, when the team was in Buffalo. He wound up being the first in a string of Devils placed on the list, and that ended up being their last game for a week-and-a-half.
Yet they have showed very few signs of rust despite the long layoff. Palmieri opened the scoring 1:34 into the second period off a backhand pass from Jack Hughes, then disrupted the Bruins' first power play with his short-handed goal nine minutes later.
Boston was able to capitalize on the four-minute penalty — which followed a high-sticking double minor on P.K. Subban — when Jake DeBrusk halved the Devils' lead roughly two minutes later.
But New Jersey showed more nifty passing when Pavel Zacha finished off a give-and-go with Andreas Johnsson at the 15:37 mark. That held up as the game-winner following a last-minute Bruins goal in the third and a final-second save by Mackenzie Blackwood, who improved to 4-0-1 overall and 2-0-1 versus Boston.
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Thursday also brought about the return of defenseman Sami Vatanen, who spent the offseason in his native Finland and finally cleared all of the necessary quarantine and conditioning hurdles ahead of the game.
"I'm ready to go," Vatanen proclaimed during his pregame press conference. "I've been able to skate back home in getting ready for the season, and I got in a couple skates with the team."
At 29, Vatanen is the fifth-oldest skater on a roster ripe with young talent. His last prior game was on Feb. 1, 2020 against Dallas, when Alain Nasreddine was interim coach.
"I've heard nothing but great things about him," new Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "He just adds another solid piece to our lineup on the back end."
"Sami's a great friend of mine," winger Miles Wood said, "and it's certainly great to have him back. It's been a while since he's played last, but I don't think he'll skip a beat."
