Sitting on win No. 2999 for the last two games, the Boston Bruins started their five-game road trip looking to get back on track and earn a milestone win against the New Jersey Devils.

It took them little time to get going against a Devils team that held the Eastern Conference’s first wild card spot entering Friday’s contest. That spot now belongs to the Black and Gold after notching a 4-1 win at the Prudential Center. Here are a few things that we learned from the Bruins’ milestone victory.

Bruins notch win No. 3,000

Sure, the Bruins would have wanted to earn a milestone victory on the NHL’s biggest regular season stage, but they couldn’t get that against the Canadiens on a disastrous New Year’s Day effort against the hated Canadiens at the Winter Classic.

The Bruins had another chance to earn the milestone when they hosted the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. They got a better effort against one of the best team’s in the East, but the talent gap was too much to overcome.

The third time to earn win No. 3,000 was indeed the charm. The Black and Gold got a complete 60-minute effort in Newark to earn that milestone victory in the franchise’s 92nd season. They become the second team in NHL history to have 3,000 or more victories — the other team, not surprisingly, is Montreal.

Engaging Vatrano breaks goal drought

The last time Frank Vatrano scored a goal was exactly three weeks ago when he notched his first career hat trick in Pittsburgh. Just minutes into Friday’s contest, Vatrano broke a 7-game goal drought with a goal off a rebound, his sixth of the season, to give the Black and Gold a 1-0 lead.

Vatrano’s goal set the tempo for a Bruins team looking for a spark. The native of East Longmeadow provided a spark of his own with the goal as the former UMass-Amherst winger was engaged in 1-on-1 battles, winning chases for loose pucks and made the most of his 13:40 of ice time. Vatrano ended his solid night with one hit, two penalty minutes and three shots on goal.

Despite injuries and Marchand’s suspension, depth players come through

The Bruins will get Brad Marchand back from suspension in Ottawa tomorrow night. But with injuries to Adam McQuaid and David Krejci, the Bruins depth will still be tested until the veterans return from their upper body ailments.

Stepping up in McQuaid and Krejci’s absence on Friday were Colin Miller and Ryan Spooner. Miller, who was with Dennis Seidenberg (two assists) on the second blue-line pairing, and Spooner, who has been playing on the second line since Krejci’s injury, each had a goal and an assist.

The other good news coming from Friday? David Pastrnak returned to the Boston lineup for the first time since Halloween. For more on Pastrnak’s return, read Anthony Travalgia’s latest piece on Boston.com.

‘Goose’ bounces back

Gustavsson didn’t need to be spectacular in his second meeting with the Devils this season. All he needed to do was bounce back from the Sabres debacle on December 26th — his last start between the Bruins pipes — and come up with a solid start. That’s exactly what the ‘Goose’ did Friday night as he stopped 19 of 20 shots and looked comfortable in his positioning and moving from post to post in the rare moments he was under pressure in the Bruins defensive end.

Gustavsson improved to 7-3-1 on the season. As long as he continues to play solid, Claude Julien will be able to depend on the Swedish veteran while managing Tuukka Rask’s minutes.

Hockey community unites behind Denna Laing

During the Women’s Outdoor Classic on New Year’s Eve at Gillette Stadium, Boston Pride forward Denna Laing was stretchered off the ice during their matchup with the Montreal Canadiens of the CWHL. On Friday, the NWHL sent a health update on Laing, who suffered a significant spinal injury eight days ago.

Laing’s family, along with Bruins President Cam Neely, Habs President and CEO Geoff Molson, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan issued statements of support in a press release from the NWHL public relations department. Laing has also gotten additional support from the hockey community with teams tweeting out images of players scripting out Laing’s No. 14.

Thanks @SLUsaints women’s hockey for the support and love for Denna #PWIH14 pic.twitter.com/xAr5PZssVq

— Lexie Laing (@lexlaing16) January 7, 2016

A website has been set up for donations and for anyone wanting to follow Laing’s progress at dennalaing.org. From everyone at Bruins Daily, our thoughts and prayers go out to Denna Laing and her family and friends during this difficult time.