Welcome to the TD Garden for tonight's game between the Boston Bruins and visiting New Jersey Devils.

After some late-game dramatics in Carolina, the Boston Bruins will happily return home, a place where they've tasted nothing but success in three games this year.

Meeting up with the 3-0-1 New Jersey Devils, a team they swept last season, outscoring them 18-to-8 in the process, a Tuesday night affair in Boston comes with a return to what's going to be the 'norm' for Boston in 2013. The norm? Lots o' Rask. Returning to the crease after a one-game sabbatical, and making his fifth start of the season, Rask enters play with a 3-0-1 record, and a 1.95 goals-against-average in 245 minutes of play this year.

On the heels of a 24-save victory over the New York Islanders last Friday, Rask will look to improve upon his career .954 save-percentage against the Devils.

Making his first start of the year, the Devils will counter with veteran netminder Johan Hedberg. Despite coming into play with just four wins in 13 career games, Hedberg has a .915 save-percentage since donning the Black-and-Red in 2010.

For the second straight game, however, the B's will have to manage without the services of defensemen Adam McQuaid. The 6-foot-5 defensemen, while healthy, was out of last night's game against the Hurricanes to attend funeral services for his grandmother. Aaron Johnson will skate in his place on the Bruins' third defensive pairing alongside Andrew Ference.

First Period

20:00 - Rene Rancourt with the saucy rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Who has more whiskey sours than this guy? B's start with their third line, Devils with their fourth.

18:18 - Tough start for Dougie Hamilton. First a bad giveaway to keep the puck in the Boston end, and then a pass that gets picked by a Devil. Oh, no, the five games were a mirage!

14:21 - And there's a fight! Shawn Thornton and Krys Barch drop the gloves in a marathon fight. That one went on for about a billion years. You probably know Barch as the guy the Devils signed to replace Zach Parise this summer. He's a goal-scorer with a lot of skill. Crowd's jacked, though, and so are both benches.

12:16 - Nice sequence of puck-possession in the attacking zone that time from the David Krejci line. Again, this line's puck-possession has been out of sight in 2013.

11:30 - New Jersey finally gets their first shot on goal.

6:58 - Boston's currently taking it to Jersey with a 7-to-3 shot advantage, but Hedberg's been beastly in net thus far, and hasn't been caught napping like the B's would have hoped given his rink-rust after not participating in an NHL game in about nine months.

4:41 - The Devils will go on the power-play. They're 3-for-19 on the year. B's penalty-kill still a perfect unit, killing off all 23 penalties against them. Ference will sit for two here. Tripping.

2:33 - Make it 24-for-24.

1:05 - The B's had a 7-to-3 shot-advantage at one point. It's now 9-to-7 in favor of the Devils. New Jersey's really brought the heat in the second half of this period.

:50 - Hedberg with a big save on Brad Marchand all alone. Huge.

Thoughts after one...

Johan Hedberg hasn't played since April, but you wouldn't know it from watching him in that period. The B's peppered the 39-year-old with nine shots in the first, but couldn't put one by. That's gotta be frustrating.

It'll be interesting to see how they respond when the puck drops in the second frame.

Expect the Devils to come out flying the second. They've outscored the opposition 4-0 in the second frame this year.

Second Period

19:11 - Boston's going on the power-play. Anton Volchenkov's going off. Two minute minor, high-sticking. Key power-play for Boston. Volchenkov, a behemoth of a shotblocker, is a pretty key guy on the Devils' shorthanded unit. Striking here would be ideal. Then again, that's a stupid thing to say.

17:00 - Nothin' doing for the Bruins' garbage fire of a power-play.

12:30 - A Devils shot hits the posts, and the B's are going back on the penalty-kill. Johnny Boychuk off for tripping. 24-for-24 goes to work.

11:30 - Devils strike first! A redirect gets through Rask and the Bruins' perfect penalty-kill has been put to sleep. They're not a terrible 24-for-25 on the year. Fire everyone.

11:30 - That one will be credited to David Clarkson. He now has points in five straight games. Also, when did he decide that he was going to be a pretty good NHL player? I must have missed this one, honestly. Before last year's 30-goal season, I pretty much just knew him as the guy that always wanted to fight Sean Avery.

10:45 - B's going back on the power-play now. Mark Fayne off this time.

8:07 - Boston's going back on the penalty-kill. Danny Paille will sit for two. Not sure for what, though.

8:07 - Upon a replay, it appears that Paille got whistled 'cause Bryce Salvador made Hedberg fall over. That's not a good call, and I can now see why Paille was so animated about the penalty.

6:00 - Make it 25-for-26 as the Bruins kill the Devils' man-advantage with ease.

5:05 - Call it the night of the Boston shorthanded unit. B's go back to work on the penalty-kill. Nathan Horton's going off for high-sticking. Jersey's 1-for-3 on the power-play tonight.

3:00 - B's kill it off.

Thoughts after two...

It's hard to generate momentum when you're constantly on the penalty-kill. That is the story of tonight's game between the Bruins and Devils. Well, for the B's, anyways. Forced to play shorthanded three times in the second frame, going no more than four and a half minutes without taking a penalty, the period played right into the Devils' hands, who capitalized and a took a 1-0 lead.

The good news? Tuukka Rask has stopped all 35 third period shots he's faced this year.

Third Period

18:28 - Johan Hedberg with his best Marty Brodeur impression right there. Nice flop, and the B's are going back on the penalty-kill. They're 3-for-4 on the PK tonight.

15:17 - Again, the Krejci line's simply relentless in the offensive zone. Bangin' bodies left-and-right. They should have more to show for their efforts tonight.

10:05 - Chris Bourque, who turned 27 today, just missed his best chance for his first goal as a Bruin. Not a good look. They're honestly going to need to get something out of him sooner rather than later. He's slowly becoming a liability out there.

8:15 - The Bruins will go back on the power-play. Dainius Zubrus off for holding.

7:30 - Bourque with the rebound but cannot bury it.

6:12 - Power-play's done and the fans here are starting to get anxious. Booing the end of that last opportunity.

4:05 - Huzzah! B's answer back. Nathan Horton beats Hedberg through the ole' five-hole. That's Horton's third goal and fifth point in the last four games. The man's red hot right now.

0.0 - Overtime on the way.

Overtime

5:00 - Krejci and Horton the forwards for Boston. Zajac and Kovalchuk the forwards for Jersey.

4:08 - Wow. Hedberg's down and out but a struggling Krejci can't lift it by him. Wow! Huge break for the Devils right there.

14.6 - What an exciting one here. Chance for chance. Hit for hit.

0.0 - Shootout upcoming.

Shootout

Boston's first shooter: Seguin -- Scores. But it gets denied as somebody threw something on the ice. Seguin has to shoot again and he scores again.
New Jersey's first shooter: Kovalchuk -- Scores. Easy.
Boston's second shooter: Bergeron -- Denied by the pad of Hedberg.
New Jersey's second shooter: Elias -- Denied.
Boston's third shooter: Horton -- Hedberg stacks 'em like Roy and stones him.
New Jersey's third shooter: Zajac -- Tripped by Rask and it's no good.
Boston's fourth shooter: Krejci -- Denied.
New Jersey's fourth shooter: Clarkson -- Denied.
Boston's fifth shooter: Bourque -- Denied. On his birthday.
New Jersey's fifth shooter: Josefsen -- Denied.
Boston's sixth shooter: Marchand -- Scores.
New Jersey's sixth shooter: Zidlicky -- Denied.

Join the Discussion: » 8 Comments » Post New Comment

» Plans in goal being kept secret; Injury updates aplenty

» Roster moves highlight Game 82 planning

» B's lay an egg in Washington

» Bruins get Michigan'd by Svechnikov, 'Canes

» Bruins' playoff plans in goal coming into slight focus