BOSTON _ It was the same story on a different night and in a different barn.
The New Jersey Devils couldn't kill off a penalty and took a loss, this time it was in Boston against at TD Garden. For the third time in a week, New Jersey helped another team open their season with a win, getting shut out by the Bruins on Saturday night, 3-0.
Cory Schneider made 29 saves and kept the Devils in the game but it was another disastrous special teams performance that led to New Jersey's fifth straight loss to start the 2019-20 season (0-2-3).
A 2-0 hole on the road against a staunch defensive team like the Bruins is a tough mountain to climb, especially for a team like New Jersey that has been struggling to generate offense at any strength. After giving up two in the first period, the Devils should have tied the game or at least cut it in half during a much-improved second period.
They used a power play at 9:19 to start pressuring the Bruins and used the momentum created to keep the pressure on and mount a strong attack. They had Torey Krug pinned out there for 2:39 at one point and his defense partner Brandon Carlo for nearly the same amount until the Bruins were forced to ice the puck and then took a subsequent faceoff violation penalty, which finally allowed them to get new bodies on the ice.
The Devils came harder on that next power play than on the first two but Tuukka Rask made the saves he needed to and New Jersey remained scoreless in the game and on the power play for the season.
Again, it was the same story. With 1:01 left in the second period, Kyle Palmieri tripped Charlie McAvoy while battling for a puck in as he entered the offensive zone. Krug threw the puck on the net and Patrice Bergeron hammered home the rebound.
The Devils couldn't kill it off.
Brad Marchand skated into the high slot and went top shelf through traffic and over the shoulder of Schneider to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead just 3:33 into play.
