Bruins to match up with Sabres after blanking Devils, 4-0

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Apr 14, 2026

Published in Hockey

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BOSTON — The Boston Bruins are shuffling off to Buffalo.

The B’s emphatically secured the first wild card and a date with the Atlantic Division champion Sabres, taking out the New Jersey Devils with an early knockout punch and cruising to a 4-0 victory at TD Garden on Tuesday.

While the Sabres are returning to the playoffs after a 14-year absence, the B’s missed the postseason just one year. The B’s bottomed out last year and dished away five regulars at the trade deadline for futures. But they not only made it back to the playoffs, the B’s survived the Division of Death that is the Atlantic and became the fourth team in the division to reach 100 points.

In the regular season finale, Mark Kastelic scored two more goals and Jeremy Swayman recorded a 21-save shutout, his second shutout of the season, to lead the B’s to their 45th victory.

After creating a little bit of drama by losing five straight down the stretch, the B’s finished the regular season with two straight wins.

This one was over after 20 minutes.

The Devils had been kind to the Bruins last weekend, helping them clinch the a playoff spot with a win over the Detroit Red Wings and then putting them back into the first wild-card spot with an overtime victory over Ottawa.

New Jersey continued the good relations by spotting the B’s the first four goals of the game in the first period.

The onslaught began early. On the second shift just 53 seconds into the game, David Pastrnak fed Morgan Geekie for his 39th of the year, which also gave Pastrnak his 100th point of the season. It was his fourth 100-point season, putting him in a class with just Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito as the only Bruins with that many 100-point seasons.

The suddenly hot Kastelic, who scored the game-winner in Columbus on Sunday, kept his temperature up, scoring his 11th and 12th of the season. Tanner Jeannot assisted on Kastelic’s goal, his first point since Feb. 26. Sean Kuraly had the primary assist on Kastelic’s second goal, Kuraly’s fifth point in the last two games.

Pastrnak, stuck on 29 goals, had a grand opportunity to hit the 30-mark when he stole the puck high in the Jersey zone and bore down all alone on Nico Daws. But Daws gave him nothing and Pastrnak ran out of ice.

Finally, the B’s capitalized on a Jersey icing with 10 seconds left in the period. Off a faceoff win, Hampus Lindholm put a puck on net and Pavel Zacha dished the rebound over to Viktor Arvidsson for his 25th of the year.

At that point, the B’s could put their orders in for Buffalo wings and fried bologna sandwiches.

Zacha did not return for the second period (family matter). That created some different line combinations, one of which saw James Hagens centering Jeannot and Kastelic for a shift.

Mikey Eyssimont, competing for a spot in the playoff lineup, thought he had a goal in the third period but it was taken off the board on a challenge for offside.

On this night, that was the only win the Devils would get.

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