Dumoulin Scores First as Devil to Win in OT in Boston | GAME STORY

BOSTON, MA - Brian Dumoulin picked the perfect time to score his first goal as a member of the New Jersey Devils.

And his first career overtime winner, at that.

The trade deadline acquisition defenseman scored the overtime winner against the Boston Bruins 1:30 into the overtime period to secure New Jersey's win in their final away game of the regular season.

"Jumped in there, the confidence to jump in there first of all and to rip it,” head coach Sheldon Keefe began. “Great goal, great finish, a great moment for a guy like him. He does so many things well for us without the puck that maybe wouldn’t get noticed but even with the puck, subtle plays throughout the ice. Great for him to have a moment like that.”

“I knew they had been out there, the unit for the Boston Bruins,” Dumoulin said. “Merc did a good job of keeping those guys on the ice. Pastrnak went for a change which allowed me to jump up and kind of get free. Usually, I’m a pass-first guy. Usually, I pass first, but I’m really trying to focus on shooting the pick a little more. Happy that one went in.”

New Jersey improved to 23-16-2 on the road this season after a 5-4 win in Boston.

Tied 1-1 heading into the second period, the Devils and Bruins exploded for a five-goal second period.

Bruins forward David Pastrnak gave Boston an early lead in the second before New Jersey responded with three straight goals by Stefan Noesen, Simon Nemec, and Dawson Mercer to build a 4-2 Devils lead.

John Farinacci, the Bruins rookie, playing in his first NHL game, brought the Bruins within one to close out the second period.

Marat Khusnutdinov scored early in the third period to tie the game at four, the lone goal of the third period.

The Devils end a 3 game skid with the overtime win in Boston, an opportunity for process and results to align as they head into their final game of the regular season tomorrow.

“It’s big,” Mercer said of feeling good after a win. “Obviously we had a good start and some hiccups throughout the game we want to clean up. We don’t want that trailing into our next few. But overall we found ways to score some goals, scoring five and we give ourselves a good chance.”

Here are some observations from the game:

• Ondrej Palat blocked a shot early in the game, and while he did take his next shift, he proceeded to go to the Devils locker room, unable to finish the period. Palat did not rejoin the game.

“Enough concern that he wasn’t able to return, but it’s also reflective of the time of year. X-Ray was negative, which in our case is positive, and we’ll just have to monitor him," Keefe said of his veteran forward status. "He won’t play tomorrow, in fact our whole group we’ll have to look at. We’ve got a number of guys here today that are a combination of guys who are on our injured list nursing some things and just having some conversations with how guys are feeling to make the right decisions tomorrow and make sure we’re not putting anyone in harm's way, unnecessarily.”

• Stefan Noesen returned to the Devils lineup after sitting out the previous game to give him some rest before the start of the post-season. Noesen returned to play on his regular line with Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt.

Noesen returned to score his 22nd goal of the season when he popped in a loose puck on the power play. Nico Hischier has the wherewithal to recognize that the puck sat loose underneath Swayman, who was attempting to make a sprawling save. Hischier knocked the puck loose for Noesen to tap home right at the goal line.

• Noesen and Nemec's goals came 30 seconds apart to turn the Devils trailing 2-1 into a 3-2 lead.

• Forward Marc McLaughlin made his Devils debut against the only other team that he has played for. McLaughlin was traded to New Jersey at the deadline and received his first call-up to the Devils on Monday. The 25-year-old played 26 games over four seasons with the Bruins, registering six goals.

McLaughlin earned his first career assist when he won the draw in the offensive zone to send the puck to Simon Nemec. Nemec wired his shot through the slot past Jeremy Swayman for the 3-2 lead.

• Both Nico Hischier and Luke Hughes had two-point nights, both with two assists. For Hischier, he is now up to 69 points this season, surpassing his season total from last year (67) and has one more game to hit the 70-point mark for the second time in his career. Should he remain at 69 points, it will still mark the second-best offensive output of his career, trailing only his 80-point season from 2022-23.