News » The Blues have scored first in 38

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils both hit their Christmas breaks with a loss.But overall Adidas Jeff Skinner Jersey , the picture is much brighter for Boston as New Jersey visits TD Garden to resume play for the two teams on Thursday night.The Bruins had won three straight before losing 5-3 on Sunday at Carolina — with the Hurricanes wearing Hartford Whalers uniforms — and are getting healthier heading into the new calendar year.Article continues below ...The Devils had 39 shots on goal but lost 3-0 to Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets the same day, their second loss in three games to that team. New Jersey has lost four of its last five games and is just 3-7-5 in its last 15 while dropping into last place in the Eastern Conference.The Bruins (20-13-4) got Patrice Bergeron back from injured reserve Saturday and Bergeron had two goals, including his 300th, and two assists in a win over the Nashville Predators Saturday before getting blanked at Carolina. He has 30 points in 21 games this season.But Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller and Jake DeBrusk are getting closer to returning — for a team that has been hammered by injuries from the start but is still currently in a playoff spot.Asked about his team getting healthier, and down the road in the playoffs, Boston’s David Backes said, “I’m not going to talk about that, because the second we talk about that, someone else might have an ailment.“Yeah, it’ll be nice to see where the marbles all lay at the end of it. That’s kind of been our M.O. all year: Wherever you’re inserted Adidas Tage Thompson Jersey , you’ve got to be effective and bring what you can bring and contribute to a team win. We’ve done a decent job of that, and we find ourselves at the Christmas break in a playoff spot.”The Bruins have won the last six TD Garden games between the teams.Poor puck handling by Tuukka Rask contributed to Sunday’s loss, and coach Bruce Cassidy criticized his goaltender’s handling of the puck.Jaroslav Halak, in net for the three-game winning streak, will likely face New Jersey Thursday. He is 12-6-2 with three shutouts, a 2.07 goals-against average and .937 career save percentage against New Jersey. Rask is 6-4-2 with a 1.59 goals-against average against the Devils.Keith Kincaid, yanked from Sunday’s loss, won his only previous start against Boston, with 39 saves on 40 shots.In other Devils news, Taylor Hall, the franchise’s first Hart Trophy winner as the league’s MVP Adidas Rasmus Andersson Jersey , was named New Jersey Sportsperson of the Year by the NJ Advance Media. He beat out New York Giants’ rookie Saquon Barkley, who won the readers’ poll.Hall led the Devils back into the playoffs last year.“The playoffs last year, I swear, when the games were in our building, it was amazing,” Hall said “I thought it was louder than (first-round opponent) Tampa for sure. You can tell the excitement in our fan base when we were going on that run, and when we clinched against Toronto last year, it was awesome. You have to get winning in order to feel that though.”On their website, the Devils point out that Hall has 37 points in 32 games —while he had 36 in his first 36 games last season.Bruins rookie Urho Vaakanainen, who missed two months with a concussion, is healthy again Adidas Dalton Prout Jersey , but is on loan to the Finnish National Team in the World Junior Championships. ST. LOUIS (AP) Nathan MacKinnon thought back to the Colorado Avalanche’s struggles last season and couldn’t help but chuckle.”We were out of the (playoff chase) with 30 games left,” he said.Thanks in part to MacKinnon, it’s a much different story this season.MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Semyon Varlamov stopped 44 shots and the Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Thursday night.Mikko Rantanen also scored twice and Gabriel Landeskog had three assists to help the Avalanche win their third straight to move into the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of idle Dallas – and five ahead of St. Louis. The Avalanche, who won 10 in a row from Dec. 29-Jan. 22, are 6-0-3 in their last nine games.”Right now every point matters, every point counts,” Varlamov said. ”Every game is like a playoff for us. This feels great just to be part of this.”Colorado finished with an NHL-worst 48 points last year, which makes this year’s turnaround even more enjoyable.”That’s a playoff-type game, as close as you get to the playoffs without getting in there Adidas Derek Ryan Jersey ,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. ”Our guys played with great urgency, commitment and intensity. You play like that – good things will happen to you.”Joel Edmundson scored for St. Louis, and Jake Allen finished with 19 saves. The Blues were coming off road wins at Los Angeles and Anaheim, but couldn’t keep the momentum going at home where they fell to 20-15-0.”We definitely haven’t played our best at home,” Allen said.The Blues are now on the outside looking in as far as the playoff chase is concerned.”Absolutely we have lots of time, lots of hockey left to be played,” St. Louis center Brayden Schenn said. ”Obviously we’re going to need some help, but we have to do our part and get the wins.”MacKinnon scored twice in a span of 2:53 in the first period to give Colorado a 2-0 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. He has 11 goals and 13 assists in 13 games since returning from a shoulder injury on Feb. 18.MacKinnon, who leads the team with 35 goals, had his 24 multipoint game, the most by a Colorado player since Joe Sakic posted 28 in the 2006-07 season.”He’s playing great Adidas James Neal Jersey , one of the best players in the league right now,” Rantanen said. ”Speed is his thing. It’s fun to watch.”Edmundson pulled the Blues within one at 9:15 of the second with his seventh.Rantanen slipped a backhander past Allen with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the middle period, and added an empty-netter with 41 seconds to go in the third.NOTES: Nicole Hensley, a goalie on the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic women’s hockey team, dropped the ceremonial first puck. Hensley played college hockey at Lindenwood University in nearby St. Charles. … Edmundson returned to the lineup after missing 13 games with fractured right forearm. The Blues were 4-7-2 without him. … Colorado’s string of eight successive games with a power-play goal came to a halt. It was the longest streak since Jan. 14-31, 2006. … The Blues have scored first in 38 of 71 games this season.UP NEXTAvalanche: Host Nashville on Friday night.Blues: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday night.