The Bruins’ second line dominated at both ends of the ice against the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-2 shootout win that snapped Boston’s three-game losing streak Wednesday night.
Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith consistently controlled puck possession, which helped Boston out shoot Detroit 39-19 through 65 minutes.
In fact, this trio had a combined even strength shot differential of plus-43. Part of that success can be attributed to Bergeron winning 17 of his 24 faceoffs.
| Oct. 15 (vs. DET) | 5-on-5 | |
| Player | Corsi For | Corsi Against |
| Patrice Bergeron | 20 | 7 |
| Brad Marchand | 22 | 7 |
| Reilly Smith | 21 | 6 |
In addition to their puck possession excellence, Boston’s second line created several quality scoring chances and set up the team’s second goal at 13:31 of the second period. Bergeron tried to score on a wraparound shot against Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard, and Smith pounced on the rebound for his second goal of the season. He’s the first Bruins player to tally multiple goals through the first five games.
The B’s also relied on the Bergeron line to shut down the Red Wings’ top trio of Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist and Johan Franzen. Boston’s second line passed the test with impressive results.
[tweet https://twitter.com/bruins_stats/status/522584187086581761 align=”center”]
As the chart below shows, the Zetterberg line had a minus-38 shot differential at even strength. This trio also failed to tally a single point during 5-on-5 play.
| Oct. 15 (vs. BOS) | 5-on-5 | |
| Player | Corsi For | Corsi Against |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 8 | 15 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 5 | 22 |
| Johan Franzen | 6 | 14 |
The Marchand-Bergeron-Smith trio combined for 75 goals, played excellent defense and was among the best puck-possession lines in the league last season, and Wednesday’s performance suggests we will see similar results in the 2014-15 campaign.
Corsi stats via HockeyStats.ca
— Bergeron left the ice at the end of the second period after blocking a shot with his left foot. He returned for the opening faceoff of the third period.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
— Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard made 37 saves on 39 shots and gave his team a chance to win when it was outplayed for most of the game.
[tweet https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/status/522584330548559873 align=”center”]
— Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask also impressed, making 18 saves on 20 shots against. He also stopped Luke Glendening on a breakaway in the second period.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
— Simon Gagne made his Bruins debut and registered two shots on goal and two hits in 12:33 of ice time (1:13 on the penalty kill).
[tweet https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/522593177769754626 align=”center”]
— Boston had 39 shots on goal Wednesday night, 22 more than it tallied in a 2-1 loss to Detroit on Oct. 9.
— Veteran defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid did a nice job of helping the Bruins transition up ice after defensive-zone draws.
[tweet https://twitter.com/bruins_stats/status/522582271828955137 align=”center”]
— The Bruins struggled on the power play and failed to score on all three of their opportunities with the man advantage Wednesday. They are now 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) on the power play this season.
— Boston gave up a power-play goal when Gustav Nyquist beat Tuukka Rask in the third period after Adam McQuaid took a minor penalty for interference. The B’s have given up four power-play goals in 19 short-handed situations through five games.
— David Krejci scored his first goal of the season in the first period. Chris Kelly made a nice pass to Krejci through the neutral zone after a Kyle Quincey turnover.
— Boston’s next game is Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. It’s the teams’ first meeting since Game 7 of last season’s second-round playoff series.
Photo via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
