With where the Bruins currently sit in the Atlantic Division standings, and the number of teams knocking on their door, Bruce Cassidy’s club cannot afford to leave points on the table against teams like the New Jersey Devils.

Despite Jersey’s recent run of success on the road — 8-2-1 in their last 11 games away from the Prudential Center — all signs pointed to a Bruins victory Saturday night at TD Garden

Winners of four of their last five on home ice and with a Devils squad all but mathematically eliminated as their guest, the Bruins earned two important points, but boy, was it difficult.

The Devils erased deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 all while avoiding a two-goal deficit in the second period after what would have been Drew Stafford’s first goal as a Bruin was reversed after a coach’s challenge revealed that Cory Schneider had been interfered with prior to Stafford’s tally.

Another game, another challenge that goes against the Bruins.

“They called it interfering with the goalie’s ability to make a save – I think that’s what they said, I’m not even 100 percent,” Cassidy said postgame. “But, you know, it looked like on video he pushed his pad maybe, I don’t know.”

Despite a chain of events that could have dampened their spirits and pushed momentum on the side of the visitors, the Bruins stuck with their game and certainly earned the two points.

Simply put; they were resilient.

“You’re right, I think in the last 10 games we’ve shown a lot of resiliency when we get scored on or something doesn’t go our way,” Cassidy added. “They sort of keep their nose to the grindstone and get after it and we don’t get into lulls for too long. And that’s important because you’re not always going to have the momentum. But the quicker you can get it back the better off you’re going to be.”

The Bruins were the better team Saturday night, outshooting the Devils 40-17, but some defensive miscues led to a pair of goals by Devante Smith-Pelly and Kyle Palmieri to keep Jersey in the game.

Rookie defenseman Brandon Carlo was involved in one of those miscues that led to a Devils’ goal. But the 20 year-old made up for it later on with a big goal of his own late in the second period.

“Yeah, it is frustrating, but you can’t too rattled over it. Things like that are going to happen in every game, and it’s the NHL,” Carlo said after notching his sixth goal of the season.

“Guys are going to come right back at you harder, and those first couple shifts after you score a goal are pretty important, and you’ve just got to focus on continuing to play hard and not let anything behind us.”

The Bruins goal being disallowed was not the most unusual thing to happen at TD Garden Saturday night. Twice in the third period the arena’s horn went off, both times stopping play in the Bruins zone.

“Yeah, that was, we didn’t know what to really do,” Carlo added. “I had the puck on one of those plays when the horn went off. I was kind of sitting there, and what was going on I didn’t really understand, but things like that are going to happen. You can’t let it bother you.”

Outside of the Bruins’ resiliency, there were many positives in Saturday’s victory. From two goals by Bruins defensemen to a positive start to Stafford’s Bruins’ tenure, Cassidy and company have much to take away from Saturday’s contest.

“Yeah, I think D corps in general – you want to get offense from the back end and good teams do that. We’ve been on a little bit of a roll lately and we want to help contribute to the team wins,” said Torey Krug, whose second period power play goal got the Bruins on the board first. “When we do that, it obviously bumps up our scoring because our forwards feel less pressure and they can go in and just do their things that they do.”

“Absolutely, yeah. Couldn’t ask for much more than that,” Stafford said. “Big win with the boys. I was able to get settled in here for a day and a half, so, it was still kind of a quick turnaround to jump in. But, the boys have been great; very supportive – the coaching staff, everybody.”

Next up for the Bruins is a big contest Monday night in Ottawa. The Bruins will head to Canada’s capital two points behind the Senators for the second spot in the Atlantic. The first of three games between the two division rivals inside the season’s final 20 games.