Boston Bruins close out historic regular season; await Red Wings in first round

Chad Johnson was on a mission.  Kind of.

Between the pipes for the Boston Bruins' final regular season game on Sunday afternoon, if Johnson could hold the New Jersey Devils scoreless, he would force a tie for the Jennings Trophy, awarded to the goaltender - or tandem of goaltenders on the same team - who allow the least number of goals in the National Hockey League season.

Boston's Eriksson scores on the power play in the opening period

And, why not?  The Bruins had everything locked up that a team could possibly gain from the regular season with perhaps more individual accolades forthcoming - like centerman Patrice Bergeron being in the running for the Selke Trophy, defenseman Zdeno Chara perhaps in contention for the Norris Trophy and primary goaltender Tuukka Rask in good position - as always - for the Vezina Trophy...

...but none of those guys were playing in Newark on the last day of the regular season, as Boston coach Claude Julien - himself possibly in line for the Adam's Award - made good on promised mass substitutions from the regular lineup as a way of giving them another day of rest before the post-season begins, leaving the quest for the Jennings Trophy in the hands of Johnson and many call-ups from AHL Providence.

So, not surprisingly, that dream ended less than eight minutes into the match, courtesy of an all-to-easy wrap-around goal by Marek Zidlicky - then the Devils scored twice in the final frame to hold off the call-up laden, jumbled lineup of the purposely short-handed Bruins by a score of 3-2 in a game that may have been the last for New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur in a Devils' sweater.

The Bruins made it pretty easy on Brodeur, putting only 18 shots on net - the winner of 688 career games yielding power play goals to Loui Eriksson in the waning seconds of the opening period, and to Brad Marchand with just 18 seconds left in regulation - while the Devils pelted Johnson with 31 pucks, with Zidlicky potting two and Travis Zajac one as New Jersey sent Brodeur out a winner.

Both first period goals were things of beauty, Zidlicky taking a pass from Zajac at the point and looping around the back of the net, giving Johnson a shoulder fake to move him to his glove side then circling behind the net and jamming the puck into the net before Johnson could recover...

...then Eriksson tied the score just before the teams repaired to the rooms for the first intermission, Marchand at the top of a tight triangle hitting Carl Soderberg's tape in the slot, the big Swede one-timing the pass to Eriksson who beat Brodeur easily to the glove side from point blank for the tic-tac-toe equalizer.

After a second period that was more like an optional skate, the Devils took the lead in the third, Zajac beating Matt Bartkowski to the low slot and tipping in a Jaromir Jagr pass across the crease for a 2-1 lead four minutes in, then Zidlicky took a Damien Brunner pass from the point right in his wheelhouse, his one-timer beating Johnson low for the eventual game winner.

Marchand potted the rebound off a Soderberg point blank offering with just seconds to play to make the score more respectable, but it hardly mattered - Julien accomplishing his goal of getting some of his young prospects a brief taste of a real NHL game while giving his entire top line a day off, plus Chara and Bergeron and suffered no injuries among the rest of his regulars.

For certain, all of the Bruins will be rested and ready when the Detroit Red Wings come-a-calling next week as the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin, Boston assured of home ice advantage against the Red Wings and all throughout the post-season by virtue of posting the best record in the National Hockey League.