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Bruins-Devils Preview

Mar 14, 2010 - 5:59 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Boston (30-25-12) at New Jersey (40-24-3), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Just when it looked like the New Jersey Devils had regained their swagger, they lost to one of the league's worst teams.

Trying to put a disappointing defeat behind them, the Devils hope to get their power play going as they meet the Boston Bruins on Monday night.

New Jersey (40-24-3) had a four-point lead atop the Eastern Conference on Jan. 12, but has since gone 8-13-2 to drop to fourth while relinquishing the Atlantic Division lead to Pittsburgh. The Devils appeared to be turning things around this week by winning two in a row for the first time in two months, including Friday's 3-1 victory over the Penguins.

The following night, however, they lost 4-2 to a last-place New York Islanders team which had dropped four straight, wasting an opportunity to tie for the division lead.

"Doesn't matter who we're playing this time of year," left wing Zach Parise told the Devils' official Web site. "We should have a better effort."

Coach Jacques Lemaire blamed the loss on an ineffective power play.

The Devils went 0 for 4 including a 5-on-3 advantage for 49 seconds in the third. They also failed on all four opportunities with the man advantage against Pittsburgh and have one power-play goal in the last four games.

"We've got to work on it. Definitely," Lemaire said. "We have to be better."

New Jersey's first opportunity to get its power play back on track comes against a Boston team that ranks among the league's best in penalty killing at 85.7 percent.

Ilya Kovalchuk has only one power-play goal in 12 games with New Jersey even though he's among the NHL leaders with 11, but the veteran winger has still been finding the back of the net regularly.

Kovalchuk, acquired from Atlanta on Feb. 4, scored his 36th goal of the season Friday, and he has five goals and five assists in his last eight games. He has two goals and three assists in three games against the Bruins this season, but he was still with the Thrashers for each of those contests.

The Devils, 8-3-0 against the Bruins since April 1, 2007, won at Boston in down-to-the-wire fashion in both meetings this season.

Dainius Zubrus scored with 1:26 left in the third period in a 2-1 win Oct. 29, and New Jersey won by the same score in a shootout Nov. 27.

Martin Brodeur has been instrumental to New Jersey's success in this series, going 8-2-0 with a 1.95 goals-against average in 10 games against the Bruins since 2005-06. He's expected to be back between the pipes for this contest after getting the night off Saturday.

The Bruins (30-25-12) arrive in New Jersey following Saturday's tough 3-2 loss at Montreal. The game took a turn early in the third period when Tuukka Rask misplayed the puck behind his own net, letting the Canadiens score into a wide open net to take a 3-1 lead.

The loss was a missed opportunity for Boston to gain some breathing space in its drive for a playoff spot. The Bruins, who have lost three of four following a 6-1-2 stretch, are eighth in the East but are being chased by four teams within six points.