Boston was blanked 2-0 by the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena as Chris Osgood shut down the Black and Gold attack, which was kept out of the net for the second straight contest. The B's have had just three goals in the last four contests.
Boston’s lone chance came in the second period, when winger Michael Ryder cracked one off the post on a one-timer feed from Blake Wheeler. Ryder ripped it from atop the faceoff circles and beat Osgood on the far side but rung it off the inside of the post to keep it 2-0 Detroit.
Red Wings 2, Bruins 0
Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Mich.
Nov. 3, 2009
Headliner: Chris Osgood picked up his fifth win and first shutout of the season after stopping all 29 of the Bruins’ shots, including 13 in the first period alone. Ozzie was able to deny all three Bruins’ power plays as the 36-year-old notched his 50th career shutout and 394th career win, putting him eight victories behind Grant Fuhr for ninth all-time.
Grinder: Pavel Datsyuk paced the Wings’ offense with a pair of assists — his ninth and 10th of the season. Datsyuk set up Henrik Zetterberg’s opening tally and later hooked up Tomas Holmstrom for his eighth goal of the year. Datsyuk’s second helper came when he picked a bouncing puck out of the air on a long pass from Todd Bertuzzi and left it behind for a trailing Holmstrom. The Wings’ winger was streaking to the front of the net and was able to poke it in through traffic to make it 2-0.
Weak link: The Bruins’ power play went 0-for-3 after going 0-for-5 in their 1-0 loss to the Rangers on Sunday. The B’s man-advantage hasn’t popped one since scoring in a loss to the Flyers via shootout on Oct. 22, five games ago.
Key Moment: With just under 11 minutes to go in the first period, Patrice Bergeron fed winger Marco Sturm alone in front, but he was denied twice in a row by a sprawling Osgood. Those two stone-jobs set the tone for the dominant veteran backstop.
What’s next: The Bruins return home after their quick two-game road trip to take on their rivals from north of the border, the Canadiens, for the first time this season.
The B’s ended Montreal’s postseason last spring in a quick and painless four-game sweep. The Bruins outscored the Habs 17-6 in the series, including four goals from former Hab Michael Ryder. It was also Boston’s first series win in over a decade — a streak that included three series losses to the Canadiens (2002, 2004, 2008).
The Canadiens, who fell to Atlanta 5-4 on Tuesday, have gone 7-8 through their first 15 contests and stand one point above Boston in the standings. The re-tooled Habs are getting help from newcomers Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta (10 points each) and Mike Cammalleri (14 points), and are also led by longtime Canadien Tomas Plekanec, who also has 14 points (including a team-high 10 assists).
Starting goalie Carey Price has struggled out of the gate with a 2-6 record, but Jaroslav Halak has stepped up and posted a 5-2 record to go with a 2.85 GAA.
