NEWARK, N.J. — For the Boston Bruins, Ryan Spooner could not have picked a better time to get his first NHL goal.

Spooner scored with 2:14 left in overtime and the Bruins defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 Friday night to win for only the second time in nine games.

“It was important for a lot of reasons,” said Bruins Coach Claude Julien, who saw his team blow a two-goal third-period lead. “We realize that they are not that far behind. We also realize there are a lot of teams that aren’t that far behind. Those two points become important.”

Spooner, playing in his eighth game this season, scored on a snap shot from the left boards on a counter-attack. David Pastrnak made the cross-ice pass and Spooner beat Cory Schneider high with the puck deflecting off the stick of Devils defenseman Adam Larsson.

“I don’t know what I feel right now,” Spooner said. “It took me 35 games to score so it feels great right now.”

The puck was in Spooner’s locker after the game.

Daniel Paille and Pastrnak scored for Boston, Niklas Svedberg had 29 saves starting for the ailing Tuukka Rask, who had played in the last 18 games for Boston.

“Personally, and for the team as well, I needed a good performance,” Svedberg said. “That’s the way it is. It was a big game in both aspects so it feels really good. We had a tough stretch but we battled through it.”

AVALANCHE 5, STARS 4: Ryan O’Reilly scored on the first shot of a shootout, and it was enough for Colorado at Dallas.

ISLANDERS 2, FLAMES 1: Jaroslav Halak set the Islanders’ team record with his 33rd win of the season, and Ryan Strome scored a power-play goal in the first period at Uniondale, New York.

HURRICANES 3, CAPITALS 0: Anton Khudobin stopped 28 shots to earn his first shutout of the season and help Carolina at Raleigh, North Carolina.

LIGHTNING 4, BLACKHAWKS 0: Ben Bishop made 28 saves for his second shutout, Steven Stamkos scored two goals and Tampa Bay won at home.

NOTES

BLUE JACKETS: Columbus placed left wing Matt Calvert on injured reserve and recalled center Brian Gibbons from its AHL affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts.

KINGS: Los Angeles Kings reassigned defenseman Derek Forbort to its AHL affiliate in Manchester, New Hampshire.