Bruins 2, Devils 1 (SO)
BOSTON -- Ryan Spooner scored the decisive shootout goal to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in a Sunday matinee matchup at TD Garden.
Spooner, a center, snuck one past Devils goaltender Cory Schneider on the first attempt of the shootout. Bruins centers Max Talbot and Patrice Bergeron missed their ensuing attempts, but New Jersey couldn't crack Boston goaltender Jonas Gustavsson in any of its three tries.
Gustavsson, who had taken losses in each of his last three outings, made 29 saves in net and right winger Loui Eriksson also scored for Boston (19-9-4), which is 5-0-1 over its last six games and has won four straight against New Jersey and 16 of 19 meetings overall.
Last season, the Bruins swept the three-game season series while outscoring the Devils 10-4.
Schneider stopped 38 shots, and defenseman Andy Greene scored for New Jersey (16-13-5), which dropped its third straight and has lost four of five.
Eriksson scored his 13th goal of the season to put Boston up 1-0 with 13:45 to go in the first period, beating Schneider on a high stick-side wrister. His shot came after defenseman Colin Miller dumped the puck in, and center David Krejci found Eriksson with a backhand pass from the left of the trapezoid.
New Jersey had a pair of power-play chances in the period, but couldn't convert on either.
Greene snapped a 13-game scoreless drought as New Jersey tied it 1-1 just 1:51 into the second, redirecting the puck past Gustavsson on a pass from right winger Lee Stempniak. It was Greene's third goal this year and his first since a power-play strike at Vancouver on Nov. 22.
Boston had a flurry of scoring chances late in the second, only to be stonewalled by Schneider.
In the closing seconds of a scoreless third period, an interference penalty on Devils defenseman John Moore set the Bruins up with their first power-play opportunity of the game.
New Jersey center Travis Zajac had a chance to steal a win on a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush in overtime, but he couldn't elevate the puck over Gustavsson's pads.
Boston responded with its own 2-on-1 rush, but Bergeron missed a wide open net on a feed from left winger Brad Marchand.
NOTES: New Jersey G Cory Schneider, a Marblehead, Mass., native, compiled a 66-26-7 record with a 2.10-goals-against average over three seasons at Boston College from 2004-07 and remains the program's all-time leader with 15 career shutouts. ... Devils C Patrik Elias was a healthy scratch and F Jordin Tootoo returned to the lineup Sunday. Tootoo, who struggled with alcoholism early in his career, posted on his Twitter account Saturday that he is "grateful to be sober for five years." ... On Saturday, Boston sent F David Pastrnak to AHL Providence on a conditioning loan and also assigned C Alexander Khokhlachev to Providence. Khokhlachev scored a goal and Pastrnak had an assist in Providence's 4-2 loss at Springfield. "Sometimes that point doesn't mean you played well," Bruins coach Claude Julien assessed. ... New Jersey visits the Detroit Red Wings and Boston plays host to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.