BOSTON -- As has been the case in the past, the compliments and accolades are accompanied by qualifiers and complaints.

There’s not much question about Brad Marchand’s skill or confidence levels these days, though.

The only Bruin invited to the NHL’s All-Star Weekend in Tampa, Marchand kept finding the spotlight on Tuesday night at TD Garden. He scored the winning goal and had an assist in a 3-2 decision over the Devils [...]

BOSTON -- As has been the case in the past, the compliments and accolades are accompanied by qualifiers and complaints.

There’s not much question about Brad Marchand’s skill or confidence levels these days, though.

The only Bruin invited to the NHL’s All-Star Weekend in Tampa, Marchand kept finding the spotlight on Tuesday night at TD Garden. He scored the winning goal and had an assist in a 3-2 decision over the Devils that stretched the Bruins points streak to 17 games (13-0-4), and extended some hot streaks of his own: He has three goals and nine points over the last four games (all wins), is 6-12--18 over the last nine, and leads the team at 21-29--50 being limited by injuries to 38 of 46 games.

The ‘buts’: He was guilty of over-handling the puck at times on Tuesday, and his intent was questioned when he caught Devils forward Marcus Johansson in the head with an elbow during a goalmouth collision late in the third period.

“I have no idea what happened,” Marchand said of the latter play. “I took a shot, I tumbled down, and Johansson was hurt.”

Marchand was a little more certain that he wasn’t careful enough with the puck on occasion (“I turned the puck over a lot … I didn’t have a good game”), but admitted that “Yeah, at times,” he’s super-confident with the puck on his stick these days.

Marchand was slick enough on Tuesday’s game-winner, tucking a backhander past Cory Schneider (who sat out the third period with an undisclosed injury) after selling a shot, to fool David Pastrnak, his own linemate.

“Brad has a great shot. I guess I would even expect him shooting,” Pastrnak said of Marchand’s goal, which broke a 2-2 tie 33 seconds before the second period ended. “It’s a great move by him.”

That great move made certain that a great game from goalie Tuukka Rask (37 saves) didn’t go to waste. Rask, who hasn’t lost in regulation since Nov. 26 (he’s 15-0-2 since), helped the Bruins survive a loose start by making 20 saves in a scoreless first period.

Playing for the first time this season without Charlie McAvoy, the rookie defenseman who underwent a procedure on Monday to treat an abnormal heartbeat, the Bruins went with defense pairs that had worked in the past.

Brandon Carlo replaced McAvoy next to captain Zdeno Chara, reuniting a pair that spent all of last season (Carlo’s first in the NHL) together. Adam McQuaid, in his fourth game back since recovering from a broken fibula, was teamed with long-time partner Torey Krug, and Kevan Miller, after missing the previous three games because of illness, stepped back in next to rookie Matt Grzelcyk..

While not all the fault of the defense pairs, the Bruins’ first period was their loosest all year. They surrendered a season-high 20 shots over those first 20 minutes.

The Devils finally beat Rask 2:05 into the second period. Miles Wood got the goal, his 13th of the season, by finding space between Rask, Chara, Carlo and Jake DeBrusk to tip Will Butcher’s shot under Rask’s glove.

Thus began a wild, five-goal period that was slowed only by a problem with the game clock after Patrice Bergeron finished Marchand’s pass to tie it, 2-2, with a 5-on-3 goal at 12:53. The delay lasted more than 10 minutes.

The sequence began when Riley Nash answered Wood’s goal at 7:03. After he and linemate Danton Heinen applied a heavy forecheck in the corner to the right of Schneider, Nash emerged with the puck and fired towards the net. The shot hit the stick of defenseman Sami Vatanen and spun behind Schneider for Nash’s seventh goal of the season.

The Devils answered exactly two minutes later. After Krug stepped into a one-timer that knocked Bergeron down just outside the crease, the Devils took off on a quick 3-on-2 rush that resulted in Damon Severson’s go-ahead goal at 9:03.

The Bruins, who had to kill a Grzelcyk penalty to stay within a goal, went on a power play of their own when Wood was assessed minors for cross-checking and interference at 11:30. Johansson took a tripping penalty 33 seconds later, and Bergeron turned the 5-on-3 into his 20th of the season and a 2-2 tie.