Devils at Bruins
The New Jersey Devils look to defeat the Bruins in Boston on Thursday for their first three-game winning streak since emerging victorious in their first three contests of the season. Jaromir Jagr became the oldest player to record a hat trick in a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia on Saturday and Patrik Elias collected a goal and two assists to reach the 1,000-point plateau in a 4-1 triumph over Buffalo three nights later. Cory Schneider has yielded seven goals over his last four outings and will look to atone for a sub-par performance in a 4-2 setback to the Bruins on Nov. 10.
Patrice Bergeron scored his second goal of the contest 2:43 into overtime as Boston snapped a three-game skid with a 3-2 triumph over Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Bergeron, who will play in his 700th career contest on Thursday, has scored in each of his team's last two games and recorded a goal and two assists in the first meeting with New Jersey. Reilly Smith set up a goal versus the Penguins and had a tally and an assist against the Devils in November.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (15-20-7): Elias has scored four goals in his last seven contests and needs just one more to become the 91st player to reach 400 for his career. The 38-year-old Czech was not interested in retirement talk on Wednesday and publicly has stated on a couple of occasions that he would like to play beyond his contract, which ends after next season. "If you asked me today, I'll say, 'I'll play as long as I can, for a couple years,'" Elias told the Bergen (N.J.) Record.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (20-15-6): One day after chief executive officer Charlie Jacobs labeled the team's performance this season as "unacceptable," Boston showed its mettle to move back into the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. Milan Lucic, who has been the subject of trade speculation, benefited from being inserted on a line with Bergeron and Daniel Paille by notching two assists versus the Penguins. Niklas Svedberg could be in line for his first start since Dec. 27 after Tuukka Rask made 37 saves against Pittsburgh.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey LW Mike Cammalleri scored and set up a goal versus the Sabres and also had a two-point performance (two assists) in his previous meeting with Boston.
2. Bruins rookie LW David Pastrnak was a healthy scratch on Wednesday after playing in the World Junior Championship but is likely to be in the lineup against the Devils.
3. New Jersey elected to skip practice on Wednesday, with general manager Lou Lamoriello citing the team's overall health and illness as the primary reason.