BOSTON — The struggling Boston Bruins picked up their second victory in as many nights Thursday, and the New Jersey Devils did little to stop it.
A night after pulling out an overtime win in Pittsburgh, the Bruins dominated the listless Devils, emerging with a 3-0 decision.
Backup goaltender Niklas Svedberg made three saves in the first period, four in the second and seven in the third in cruising to his second shutout in 12 games this season. He was beaten on a shot by center Scott Gomez in the second period, but the puck hit the post.
The 14 shots were the fewest allowed by the Bruins this season.
The Bruins outshot the Devils 43-14, but many of their shots were harmless against local product Cory Schneider in the New Jersey goal.
Left winger Milan Lucic scored twice, the second into an empty net, and center Carl Soderberg also scored for the Bruins (21-15-6), who are fighting to force their way into the Eastern Conference playoff.
Even with the two straight wins, the Bruins, who ended a stretch of four consecutive overtime games, are just 7-6-5 in their last 18 games. But they earned points in their last six, going 3-0-3.
The loss ended a two-game winning streak for the Devils (15-20-7). New Jersey fell to 3-4 since general manager Lou Lamoriello fired coach Pete DeBoer and replaced him with himself and co-coaches Adam Oates and Scott Stevens.
The 43 shots were most allowed by the Devils in a game this season.
Lucic, who played his best game of the season with two assists at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, made it 1-0 with 1:10 left in the first period. He fired through a screen by defenseman Zdeno Chara and past Schneider for his first power-play goal since Oct. 28.
Lucic’s eighth goal of the season went into the open net with 12 seconds to play.
Soderberg scored his ninth of the year unassisted at 8:31 of the second period. Defenseman Mark Fraser coughed the puck up in his own zone, leading to Soderberg walking from the boards into the slot before beating Schneider, who made 40 saves in falling to 14-19-4.
Schneider, who played poorly in front of family and friends on the Devils’ first visit this season, a 4-2 Bruins win on Nov. 10, was solid in an 18-shot first period. His only big save came off center — playing left wing — Chris Kelly with 4:50 left in the period.
The Devils didn’t have a shot attempt in the final 10:47 of the period.
The Bruins are 15-3 in their past 18 games against New Jersey, 8-1-1 in their past 10 games at TD Garden.
NOTES: RW David Pastrnak, 18, the Bruins’ first-round pick in last year’s draft who is just back from the World Junior Championships, dressed for his sixth game with the Bruins. Right wing Loui Eriksson missed the game after taking a slash to the wrist area during Wednesday night’s overtime win at Pittsburgh. … The Devils were saddened to hear of the death of longtime NHLer J.P. Parise, whose son, Zach, played his first seven seasons with New Jersey before signing with the Minnesota Wild. “I can’t imagine what [Zach’s] going through,” center Travis Zajac said. “I met J.P. a few times. He had a great attitude, always positive.” … Bruins centers Patrice Bergeron and Chris Kelly both played in their 700th NHL games Thursday. … Devils left wing Martin Havlat returned after missing a game with the flu. … The Devils host the New York Islanders on Friday. The Bruins play the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday.