Although the playoff home stretch figured prominently in the minds of Boston Bruins fans last Thursday against the New Jersey Devils, the big story of the night was the initiation of future Hall of Famer and hockey legend Jaromir Jagr in Boston. The National Hockey League's ninth all-time points scorer made his Bruins debut at right wing and scored the only goal in the team's 1-0 win over the Devils.

"I knew (that Marchand would provide a good pass)," said Jagr. "They always said, 'You've got to drive to the net,' and now I understand why they were saying that, and I never really drive to the net, now I know why. If I knew it when I was 20, I would have 100 more goals by now."

While the Bruins were pinned back largely in the opening stages of the game, the Devils had a strong showing in the first period, outshooting the Bruins 18-5 and putting the home team on the ropes. However, the well-rested Tuukka Rask, who sat the last two games in favor of Anton Khudobin, was well up to the challenge, making several key saves, including one on a breakaway from winger David Clarkson that represented the away team's best chance to get on the board. Despite valiant attempts from the away team, neither side was able to break the scoring ice, and the game went into the break 0-0.

Clarkson, despite missing the gilt-edged chance, claimed that his failure to score was more down to good goalkeeping by Rask rather than his own poor finishing. "I mean you can always beat yourself up for not scoring on the break, but he [Rask] was just on his game, and there's not much you can do about that," he said in regards to his miss.

Rask was also Boston's hero in the second, as he continued to keep the Bruins in the game, fighting off a power play and robbing center Patrick Elias in addition to his save against Clarkson. Meanwhile, the home team's offense failed to get moving, as it gave the puck away consistently and failed to string passes together.

In the second period, the Bruins would get the only goal that they would need to set them on their way to another valuable two points. Marchand fed the puck to Jagr, and as he drove towards the net, Marchand's pass deflected off Jagr's skate and past goalie Martin Brodeur to send the home crowd into raptures.

However, despite registering a goal on his Boston debut, Jagr wasn't about to take the plaudits. "I mean I was playing with two younger guys with so much skill and energy, I just tried not to hold them up," Jagr said. "I told them [Marchand and Seguin] 'I've got to get better.' I felt bad for them that they had to play with me, but I've got to get better. That's for sure."

The third period continued to be a battle of the goaltenders, as neither team was able to find the twine. And while they didn't concede any goals, a troubling pattern emerged for the Bruins, who gave away a whopping 40 shots to their opponents. In the end, however, it was inconsequential, as Rask stopped all the of shots that he faced.

Saturday's game wasn't quite as memorable for the Bruins, however, as they fell at their rival Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in a pivotal Northeast Division clash. In that game, the Habs went up 2-0 before left-wing Daniel Paille reduced the arrears with a goal midway through the second period. However, Montreal goalkeeper Carey Price made 26 saves and held firm the rest of the way to the 2-1 victory. With the victory, the Canadiens took a three-point advantage at the top of the Northeast Division, which could prove pivotal as the season winds to its close.

The Bruins return to action in a road match against the Devils tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.