Bergeron scored two goals Wednesday night in the Bruins’ 6-1 win over the Devils.
Bergeron pushed the Bruins’ lead to 3-1 early in the second period, right after a penalty to Bruins forward Nathan Horton was about to expire. Devils rookie defenseman Adam Larsson attempted a shot from the point, but it was blocked by Bergeron, who got the puck and skated in alone on Martin Brodeur and scored at 4:02 of the second.
Bergeron added his second goal of the game and ninth of the season in the third period, when Boston scored three times to put the game away.
Tim Thomas made 30 saves for the Bruins, who got back on track after their seven-game winning streak was snapped Saturday against Dallas. Boston (25-10-1) moved within one point of the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.
New Jersey (21-16-2) had dropped two straight after winning two in a row and seven of nine.
Gregory Campbell got Boston even at 1 in the first period, and Horton scored his fifth power-play goal of the season to give the Bruins the lead. David Krejci and Thornton added goals in the third.
David Clarkson put the Devils on top early with his team-leading 14th goal, but it wasn’t enough to keep New Jersey from its most-lopsided loss since a 6-1 defeat at Colorado on Nov. 30.
Shortly after Shawn Thornton and Janssen fought, Devils captain Zach Parise stole the puck, skated up left wing and sent a pass to Clarkson, who fired a wrist shot past Thomas at 4:24 for a power-play goal that made it 1-0.
The Bruins then stormed back.
A wrist shot by Boston defenseman Andrew Ference hit Campbell on the right skate in front and deflected past Brodeur, who made his fourth straight start. He had won five of seven.
A few minutes later, Devils defenseman Henrik Tallinder was whistled for delay of game, and the Bruins capitalized. Horton scored his 10th of the season when he took a pass from Krejci in front. Horton’s shot was initially deflected by Brodeur, but the puck trickled in to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 13:17 of the first.
Boston broke the game open in the third on Bergeron’s second of the game and a goal from Krejci in a span of two minutes.
“ I don’t think we throw this one out,” DeBoer said. “ We played the Stanley Cup champ when they were healthy and rested. We wanted to raise the bar to meet them and now we know how high we have to raise the bar. It’s a good lesson for all of us.”
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