After Friday's rout of the Minnesota Wild in Newark, the Devils traveled to Boston looking to inch closer to the conference leading Bruins in Boston.  But the Bruins skating with far more desperation today than the Devils did, and the gameplay showed this disparity.  After losing their last two games in devastating fashion, the talk in Beantown was that the Bruins had lost their winning ways.  And their performance since the All-Star break has proven it.  Back then, the Bruins led the Devils in points by 17.  By the time these two faced-off today, Jersey had closed that gap to 3 with an opportunity to come within one victory of tying for first place.  Unfortunately, the Devils couldn't match Boston's desire, particularly in the second and third periods.
    Boston began rolling in the first.  After thwarting a few Jersey scoring chances (Boston's Tim Thomas had an excellent game overall), the Bruins struck first at 16:22 on the power play.  The veteran Mark Recchi took a shot towards Paul Martin, who was directly in front of Brodeur's crease.  The puck deflected off of another Bruin, then off of Martin's skate, and past Brodeur.  Marty couldn't have seen that one coming.  He did, however, have a very good look at Boston's second scoring chance.
    The Bruins would score three more times in the second, a highly uncharacteristic period for Marty.  Boston's second goal was scored on a wraparound less than 2 minutes into the period.  In recent games, Brodeur has been impenetrable in defending that type of manuever.  But he was definitely off of his game today, allowing 4 of 30 shots taken on net.  Even on an off-night for Marty, he shouldn't be held solely responsible for this debacle.
    Colin White has been out of the lineup since Brodeur's record setting performance last Tuesday against the Blackhawks, and his absence is clearly translating into a lack of physical presence on the defense.  Another headliner out of the lineup was Brendan Shanahan.  The pregame broadcast made it clear, however, that Shanahan's unavailability was Coach Sutter's decision.  Perhaps Brendan's 40 years of age is catching up with him on the ice.  Let's hope these two integral pieces of the Devils' strategy are fully healed and focused come playoff time.
    New Jersey did manage to net a goal in today's matchup.  At 12:44 of the second period, Andy Greene deflected a beautiful pass from Jamie Langenbrunner and through Thomas' five hole.  Zach Parise was also credited with an assist on this play, his 47th assist of the season.  But overall, the Devils' offense was out of synch, particularly on the power play.  New Jersey went 0 for 6 on the power play while the Bruins' league-leading power play squad scored twice on their 5 opportunities.  This glaring difference certainly contributed to the Devils' downfall.
    Unfortunately, Jersey won't have much time to recover.  Tomorrow, they'll travel to Philadelphia to face their arch nemesis in the division (aside from the unmentionables from NY), the Flyers.  With this loss and Philly's victory today over the surging Penguins, the Flyers have narrowed the gap in the standings (slightly).  Although the Devils' can't allow the Flyers to close in on their 9 point lead in the division, it's the Capitals that pose the most serious threat to their second place seed.  Washington trails NJ by only one point.  The Devils' defense will need to toughen up in Philly if they hope to keep the Capitals at bay in this pulse-pounding playoff race.