Boston was outscored 10-3 in the two games for their first back-to-back regulation losses since mid-December.
The Bruins are now just 3-7-2 against the Western Conference this season, but will get back to Northeast Division play when they return home to face Toronto on Tuesday.
Third Period, 18:35, Red Wings 4-2: Good pressure by the Bruins on the power play, but not good enough as they can't convert the chance when they desperately needed a goal.
Third Period, 16:35, Red Wings 4-2: The Bruins will at least get a late power play to try to mount some sort of a rally, as Franzen is sent off for tripping Ryder.
Third Period, 13:35, Red Wings 4-2: With the Bruins pressing for the equalizer, the Wings counterattack with a 2-on-1 break and Todd Bertuzzi scores his second of the game.
Bertuzzi tapped it in at the right post off a feed from Johan Franzen with Chara the Bruin back on the play.
Third Period, 13:01, Red Wings 3-2: Horton with the chance at the left post, but is denied by Howard. the play started when Krejci misfired in the high slot.
Third Period, 10:20, Red Wings 3-2: Krejci breaks a stick in front on a rebound in slot. Krejci wants a slashing call on Zetterberg, but none is coming.
Third Period, 9:53, Red Wings 3-2: The Bruins kill off that chance, still have a half a period to pull this one out, but they'll need to turn the momentum around and find a way to slow down the Red Wings attack.
Third Period, 7:53, Red Wings 3-2: The Bruins have a big penalty to kill here as Greg Campbell is called for tripping up Patrick Eaves.
Third Period, 6:20, Red Wings 3-2: Good to see Lucic back on the ice after taking a big shot off his foot earlier in the period.
Third Period, 6:10, Red Wings 3-2: The shooting gallery on Thomas continues, as the Bruins are running around way too much in their own zone and struggling to break out of their own end.
Third Period, 3:01, Red Wings 3-2: Bad, bad sight for the Bruins, as Milan Lucic goes down in pain after blocking a Kronwall shot with his right foot. He heads to the locker room after play was stopped with him down on the ice.
Third Period, 2:00, Red Wings 3-2: McQuaid is back on the ice and playing in the third after being shaken up late in the second.
Third Period, 0:00, Red Wings 3-2: The final frame is under way, with the Bruins needing to rally to salvage anything out of this home-and-home series.
Second Intermission Notes: After a solid start, the Bruins are again struggling to keep up with the Red Wings.
The second period wasn't a domination on the scale of Friday's loss, but a lot of that was due to some strong work by Tim Thomas to keep it close. the Red Wings have a 29-15 edge in shots, including a 19-6 edge in the second.
Tyler Seguin got the first goal (originally credited to Blake Wheeler), but hasn't done much since that first shift. He's 0-8 on faceoffs and missed the check that allowed Kris Draper to get behind the defense and score the go-ahead goal. Brad Marchand has Boston's other goal, but he's also a minus-2 with Detroit's first goal coming off his giveaway.
Wheeler has been a bright spot with some strong play and good jump, and Michael Ryder has a pair of assists, though he also took a bad penalty. Mark Stuart hasn't shown any serious rust in his return to the lineup as he's a plus-1 with a hit and a blocked shot in 9:11.
End Second Period, Red Wings 3-2: The middle frame is over, and none too soon for the Bruins, who struggled to keep up with the Wings in that one as Detroit outshot them 19-6 and scored twice to take their first lead.
Second Period, 18:19, Red Wings 3-2: The Wings are even outhitting the Bruins now, with Kronwall nailing Jordan Caron. McQuaid also appeared to be shaken up on that shift.
Second Period, 17:11, Red Wings 3-2: The Wings have raised their play in the second, but the Bruins haven't been able to match it. Detroit has a 14-6 edge in shots in the period.
Second Period, 12:44, Red Wings 3-2: The Red Wings take their first lead of the game as Kris Draper gets behind the defense and finishes a great pass from Patrick Eaves with a wrister in the slot.
Beautiful passing from the Wings, with Lidstrom starting the transition up to Darren Helm, who moved it on to Eaves. But the Bruins also got caught with both Ference and Seidenberg on the same side, allowing Draper in alone behind them. Seguin is the forward who should have picked up Draper, but he missed the backcheck to allow the wide-open chance.
Second Period, 11:29, 2-2: Another good shift by the Wheeler line, with Wheeler charging into the zone with speed for a bid from the slot and Ryder nearly scoring on the follow-up with a bad-angle shot from low on the right side.
Second Period, 9:51, 2-2: The Bruins survive that penalty kill, and Chara nearly scores out of the box.
Zetterberg returned on the power play, but Bertuzzi limped off after being hit by a Lidstrom shot.
Second Period, 7:51, 2-2: The Bruins will be shorthanded again, as Chara is called this time for slashing Datsyuk's stick.
Second Period, 5:00, 2-2: It's not all good news for the Wings, as Henrik Zetterberg went off with an apparent injury after being hit into the boards by Chara.
Second Period, 3:54, 2-2: The Red Wings tie it again as Pavel Datsyuk scores into an open net from the left circle after Thomas got tangled up in front in a collision with Adam McQuaid.
Second Period, 2:28, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins can't convert their abbreviated power play and the sides are back at even strength.
Second Period, 0:28, Bruins 2-1: The Wings negate the rest of the power play as Rafalski is called for high-sticking Marchand.
Second Period, 0:00, Bruins 2-1: The second period is under way, with the Bruins looking to kill off the rest of Ryder's roughing penalty.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins are playing much better in this one than on Friday, but there have still been some warning signs.
Boston has been sloppy at times, with a Marchand giveaway giving Detroit its only goal. A sloppy change also led to an odd-man rush and only a good play by Dennis Seidenberg broke up another 2-on-1. The Bruins also can't afford to take bad penalties like the Michael Ryder roughing call that has Detroit entering the second on the power play.
On the plus side, Blake Wheeler has played an inspired game so far, and linemate Tyler Seguin has responded well to his recent scratches. Seguin has now been credited with the first goal, originally given to Wheeler, but does need to work on his faceoffs, as he's 0-6 so far.
Mark Stuart is a plus-1 with a hit in 3:57 so far in his first appearance after being a healthy scratch for eight straight games.
End First Period, Bruins 2-1: Much better start for the Bruins, who head into the intermission with the one-goal lead in Detroit.
First Period, 19:04, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins are shorthanded for the first time after an undisciplined penalty by Ryder, who gets called for roughing after a taking a gloved punch at Jakub Kindl at the blue line. Big kill here for the Bruins.
First Period, 17:32, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins get caught in a change and the Wings fly in with numbers, but Thomas bails Boston out with a save on Brian Rafalski's shot from the left wing.
First Period, 16:30, Bruins 2-1: Bertuzzi nearly got his second of the day with a chance to jam it home in front, but Thomas keeps it out.
First Period, 13:56, Bruins 2-1: Marchand now back to stirring things up, as he and Ericsson have a staredown behind the Detroit net. As usual with the Wings, it doesn't lead to anything more than dirty looks.
Marchand actually dropped his gloves on Friday, but couldn't get Patrick Eaves to go. Detroit is last in the league in fights with just eight all season.
First Period, 12:17, Bruins 2-1: Brad Marchand atones for his earlier turnover as he strikes in the closing second of the power play to put Boston back ahead.
Great pass by Michael Ryder from the right wing to Marchand at the top of the crease for the goal. Recchi also picks up an assist on the play.
First Period, 10:21, 1-1: The Bruins get the first power play of the day as Kris Draper is called for interference. Boston needs to take advantage of these opportunities, but the power play hasn't been a strength for the B's of late.
First Period, 9:10, 1-1: The Bruins' fast start is fading fast, as the Wings are starting to dictate the flow once again.
First Period, 6:09, 1-1: The Bruins make the kind of mistake they can't afford to commit, as Brad Marchand tries a blind backhand pass deep in his own zone.
Todd Bertuzzi takes advantage of the giveaway, stealing the puck for a chance all alone in front of Thomas, and beats the Bruins netminder with a deke to tie the game.
First Period, 4:48, Bruins 1-0: Thomas has made a couple big saves early, including one on a tough point shot by Jonathan Ericsson there with Tomas Holmstrom providing the screen in front.
First Period, 4:01, Bruins 1-0: The Wheeler line showing a lot of jump early in this one, with Wheeler having another scoring bid in deep on the right side.
First Period, 1:29, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins strike first this time, getting off to the start they needed.
Blake Wheeler came out from behind the net to start the play. His initial backhand was stopped, but the second effort went in. Tyler Seguin was also in front banging at it and earned an assist in his first game back after sitting out the last two.
First Period, 1:03, 0-0: Mark Stuart out for his first shift. It will be interesting to see how he fares coming off a such a long layoff with eight straight games as a healthy scratch. The Bruins can't afford him to be rusty at all against the speedy Red Wings.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And this one is under way in Detroit, with the Bruins looking for a much better effort against the Red Wings in this one after Friday's humbling 6-1 loss.
12:25 p.m.: The Bruins will open with Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi up front. Zdeno Chara starts on defense with Johnny Boychul alongside him with Kampfer out, while Tim Tomas is in goal.
For Detroit, Jiri Hudler, Pavel Datsyuk and Dan Cleary open the game up front, with Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall on the blue line and Jimmy Howard in goal.
12:15 p.m.: The scratches are official, with Steven Kampfer, Zach Hamill and Daniel Paille, who is serving the final game of his suspension, out for Boston and Jan Mursak and Valtteri Filppula out for Detroit.
11:45 a.m.: The Bruins will look for some redemption against the Red Wings with a revamped lineup on Sunday.
Not surprisingly, Tyler Seguin returns to the lineup after being scratched the last two games. Seguin, who played his junior hockey in nearly Plymouth, Michigan, replaces Zach Hamill.
The change on defense is more of a shock, as Steven Kampfer will be a healthy scratch for the first time since being recalled in December. He's out despite the presence of more than 40 friends and family on hand to witness what they expected to be the Jackson, Michigan native's pro debut at Joe Louis Arena, where Kampfer played as a youngster and occasionally while at the University of Michigan.
Mark Stuart replaces him after being a healthy scratch the last eight games.
Tim Thomas will play in his home state, getting the start in goal after coming on in relief of Tuukka Rask on Friday.
8 a.m.: The Bruins followed up one of their most memorable performances in ages with one of their most forgettable.
After a thrilling, fight-filled 8-6 win over archrival Montreal on Wednesday, the Bruins didn't muster much of a fight, figuratively or literally, against Detroit on Friday as they fell 6-1 to close out a four-game homestand with a 2-2-0 record.
The Bruins get an immediate chance at redemption though, as they play the Red Wings again on Sunday, closing out a home-and-home set with a matinee at Joe Louis Arena. The Bruins will be hoping for a much different result, but to get it they'll need a much different effort.
"I think it's pretty obvious what we have to do, play much better," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "We were not on top of our game and we let them play their game and let them play their game comfortably. They're a highly-skilled team and you respect that, but you also have to play your game."
The Bruins have shown plenty of resilience this season. They bounced back from a lackluster 3-0 loss to Anaheim in December with an emotional, season-changing 4-1 win over Atlanta in the following game. After blowing a last-minute lead and suffering a shootout loss in Buffalo on New Year's Day, they beat Toronto 2-1 in their next game. And after a shocking 3-2 overtime loss in Montreal when they led 2-0 with 2:22 left in the third, they pulled off an even more amazing comeback of their own two days later in Pittsburgh with four goals in the final 3:23 for a 4-2 win.
Now the bruins have to do it again in Detroit, and Julien is counting his club to rise to the challenge.
"It's been there, and you hope that continues," Julien said of the team's ability to shake off bad losses. "I'm not a guy who foresees the future because that's not my job, but you've got to hope that your team does that. … You really hope it's going to happen [Sunday] because our team has shown that in the past. If I was a betting man, I'd bet that our team was going to bounce back."
It's an early start for this one with the puck dropping at 12:30 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.
