Devils Lose Markstrom, but Grab 5-1 Win Over Bruins

On Wednesday evening, the New Jersey Devils inducted franchise legend Jacques Lemaire into their Ring of Honor. After the festivities, they had to face a hungry Boston Bruins team in an attempt to snap their four-game skid. The Devils were finally able to get back in the win column, taking it 5-1…but not before losing their starting netminder in Jacob Markstrom. Jake Allen was solid in relief, stopping all 16. The Devils now improve to 27-17-6 on the season; the Bruins fall to 23-20-6.

Jacob Markstrom is down in serious pain……#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/V0zalafOPN

— Daniel Amoia (@daniel_amoia) January 23, 2025

Less than five minutes in, the woes from the Devils’ top players seemed to continue. Jesper Bratt made a bad turnover, leading to a slam dunk goal for Morgan Geekie. The Devils generated a lot of chances afterwards, but couldn’t find twine as the score remained 1-0 at the first horn.

Just over a minute into the second, the Devils had an answer. Dawson Mercer ripped one past Jeremy Swayman to knot it up. But things took a turn for the worse for the Devils, as Justin Brazeau crashed the crease, and Jacob Markstrom was seriously hurt. He could barely put any weight on his left leg as he left the game. Jake Allen replaced him.

The Devils got a power play for Brazeau’s goalie interference, and made the Bruins pay as Dougie Hamilton one-timed a missile to give them a 2-1 lead. Then, they turned it up and the Bruins had no answer. Stefan Noesen scored another power play goal, and then Mercer notched his second to make it 4-1 at the end of the frame.

In the third period, the Devils tightened up as they have when defending a lead all season. Then they scored another power play goal, Hamilton again to make it 5-1. That’s where the score stood at the final horn.

After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe said, “Markstrom is in good spirits and he’s feeling a lot better now than he was before, which is a positive, but he’s going to miss some time.” He also added, “Sh– happens. You’ve got to just press on…We’re hoping for the best with Marky, he’s been tremendous for us…it was big for us to come through (after the injury).”

The Devils will take a trip to Montreal to face the Canadiens on Saturday; the Bruins will return home to take on the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.