Frederic opened the scoring in the second period, while the captain scored the winner in the third after New Jersey pulled one back.
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NEWARK — Two goals and a boatload of saves were all the Bruins needed to overcome some holiday-week fatigue.
They upended the Devils, 3-1, at the Prudential Center after surviving a first-period barrage against netminder Linus Ullmark (29 saves).
“He was spectacular,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “We weren’t. To get three of four points on this trip right after Christmas, it speaks volumes about the character of the team. We weren’t at our best, but we found ways to win.”
And on they roll. Trent Frederic opened the scoring in the first period and Patrice Bergeron delivered the go-ahead goal with 4:08 left, deflecting a wrister from Hampus Lindholm (two assists), who set up the two most critical Boston goals.
The winner was the 1,011th career point for Bergeron, who moved within one of Phil Esposito for third on the Bruins’ all-time scoring list.
“There’s not enough words to describe him,” Montgomery said. “That’s a big-time goal.”
“I know I didn’t really have it to start,” Frederic said. “[The fight] kind of just came, and I thought, ‘Why not?’ It’s been a little bit. It got me engaged, and hopefully helped the guys.”
It was Frederic’s fourth fight this year, and the 13th time a Bruin has dropped the gloves. This is a speed-and-puck-possession team, but one that’s tied for sixth-most fighting majors in the league.
“That was a great fight, wasn’t it?” Montgomery said. “Long. Bahl had maybe the advantage early. Freddy came with a couple hammers at the end.”
The hero was Ullmark, as it typically is when the Bruins don’t have their game. Ullmark was perfect in the opening 40, and made 14 of his 24 stops in the first. He robbed Miles Wood with a breakaway glove stop after Connor Clifton fumbled at his own blueline. He turned aside Yegor Sharangovich after the netminder swatted a loose puck back into traffic. Ullmark was lucky, too, hearing the crossbar ring after Jesper Boqvist fired one off a turnover down low.
“We’re relying on him a little bit too much these last few games,” Lindholm said. “But he’s been outstanding. I joked with him tonight, I should have a few goals [against] if I didn’t have him back there.”
“We showed a lot of character tonight,” Bergeron said. “We stuck with it and found ways to stay in the game. We collapsed a lot. We blocked a lot of shots [20]. We did the things we needed to do to get the result.”
“We need to practice,” Montgomery said. “Have you seen us pass the puck?”
