Cotter Wins It 4-3 In OT Against Bruins

 

Photo: Andrew MacLean

The Devils finished their homestand on a high note Monday, edging the Bruins 4-3 in a back-and-forth overtime battle to secure their second straight win. Paul Cotter was the star of the night, netting two goals, including the dramatic game-winner with just seven seconds remaining in the extra frame. Jack Hughes fueled the offense with three assists, reaching 400 career points, becoming the fastest Devils player to reach 400 points. while Connor Brown and Jesper Bratt also found the back of the net. For Boston, David Pastrnak continued his torrid pace with two goals, extending his point streak to six games, and Pavel Zacha added a tally. The Devils now take their momentum on the road, starting Wednesday at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers, while the Bruins head to Montreal for a Tuesday night clash with the Canadiens.

Boston Bruins Lineup:

Khusnutdinov - Minten - Pastrnak

Mittelstadt - Zacha - Arvidsson

Steeves - E. Lindholm - Geekie

Jeannot - Kuraly - Kastelic

Aspirot - McAvoy

H. Lindholm - Lohrei

Zadorov - Jokiharju

Korpisalo

Swayman

New Jersey Devils Lineup:

Meier - Hischier - Mercer

Bratt - J. Hughes - Brown

Gritsyuk - Glass - Hameenaho

Cotter - Bjugstadt - Tsyplakov

Siegenthaler - Hamilton

L. Hughes - Kovacevic

Dillon - Nemec

Markstrom

Allen

David Pastrnak opened the scoring early in the first period with his 25th goal of the season when he slipped in the rebound from the slot of Henri Jokiharju's shot from near the blue line to make it 1-0 at 15:58 after Marat Khusnutdinov kept the puck away from the Devils, sending it along the right wall. With 5:31 to go, Pavel Zacha scored his 20th goal of the season when he put a wrister past Jacob Markstrom from the slot on a 2-on-1 with Viktor Arvidsson, who received the puck from Charlie McAvoy prior.

Connor Brown took a lead pass from Jack Hughes at Boston's blue line only 32 seconds into the middle frame, pulling the Devils within 2-1 when he went on to put the puck past Joonas Korpisalo on a breakaway for his 12th of the season. At 11:52, Jesper Bratt knotted it up 2-2 after J. Hughes intercepted a Bruins pass, handing it over to Brown, who passed it to Bratt for a slap shot from the right face-off circle. This was Bratt's 15th goal of the season.

Early into the third period, Paul Cotter gave New Jersey their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 17:10, off a pass from Maxim Tsyplakov, who collected the puck along the right wall, fighting for it with Jonathan Aspirot after Brenden Dillon shot it out of the Devils' end. Cotter scored on a snap shot from the left hashmarks. Pastrnak found the back of the net for his second of the night, tying it 3-3 at 15:28 when he scored on a backhand at the left post after skating into the right face-off circle, dragging the puck past Nico Hischier in the slot.

Cotter struck again with only seven seconds to go in overtime when Dougie Hamilton slapped the puck away from McAvoy. J. Hughes, in the neutral zone, then passed it up to Cotter, who put it home from in close for the 4-3 final.

Notes:

- Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves for New Jersey, and Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves for Boston in his first start in four games.

- Jack Hughes (414 GP), who recorded three assists to reach 400 career points, became the third-fastest active U.S.-born player to reach the milestone. He's behind both Auston Matthews (372 GP) and Jason Robertson (378 GP). ...With his three-assist game against the Bruins, this is Jack's eighth three-assist game in his career, tying John MacLean for eighth place on the franchise list. ...This was also his 58th multi-assist game, tying Jesper Bratt for seventh place in franchise history.

- J. Hughes has 402 points in 414 games (158 goals, 244 assists). He is the fastest player in Devils franchise history to record 400 career points, previously held by Kirk Muller in 429 games.

- David Pastrnak's game-opening goal was the 86th of his career, and he surpassed Johnny Bucyk (85) for the second most in Bruins history. Patrice Bergeron (89) is at the top of the list. ...This was Pastrnak's 77th career multi-goal game, surpassing Cam Neely (76) for the second most in Bruins history. Phil Esposito (104) tops the list.

- Charlie McAvoy extended his road point streak to eight games, dating to January 26th. There are only two Bruins defensemen to have posted longer runs: Ray Bourque (16 GP in 1993-94; 12 GP in 1983-84 & 10 GP in 1981-82) and Bobby Orr (11 GP in 1970-71). ...For the third time in his career, McAvoy hit the 50-point mark, requiring the fewest games (55 GP) by a Bruins defenseman since Ray Bourque in 1995-96 (46 GP).

- NJ: 34-31-2, 5-2-0 on a team record seven-game homestand.

- BOS: 37-23-7, 1-3-5 in their past nine road games.