Final, Red Wings 6-1: The Bruins played their worst game of the season on Wednesday night in a 6-1 defeat to the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.
It’s the first time all season that Boston has allowed more than four goals in a game. Detroit broke the contest open in the second period with three goals in four minutes, and with the B’s struggling to put any pressure on Red Wings goaltender Jonas Gustavsson (just 17 shots through three periods), the chances of a comeback were slim.
The loss drops the Bruins to 16-7-2 on the season, but they are still atop the Eastern Conference standings with 34 points, one ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Boston’s next game is its Black Friday matinee against the rival New York Rangers at TD Garden.
Good night everyone, and have a happy Thanksgiving.
Third Period, 17:45 Red Wings 6-1: The Red Wings score on a 2-on-1 as Gustav Nyquist’s pass across the ice is deflected off of Torey Krug’s glove and past Rask. It was an unlucky bounce for the Bruins, but that’s how this night has gone for them.
Shortly after, Jarome Iginla ruined Gustavsson’s chances of a shutout with his fifth goal of the season and first in the last seven games.
Third Period, 15:40, Red Wings 5-0: Bruins kill McQuaid’s penalty, and we’re back to even strength. Detroit is 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
Third Period 13:41, Red Wings 5-0: Lucic and McQuaid both jab at Tomas Tatar’s face, but only McQuaid will go to the penalty box for roughing. The Red Wings get another power play.
Third Period, 11:00, Red Wings 5-0: Zetterberg goes to the penalty box for interfering with Eriksson, and the Bruins get a power play.
The B’s weren’t able to create any high-quality scoring chances on the power play, and they are 0-for-4 with the man advantage tonight.
Third Period, 8:38, Red Wings 5-0: Drew Miller scores his second goal of the season, and Detroit has a 1-0 lead. After Rask made a save on a point-blank shot from Joakim Andersson, Miller was wide open in front of the Bruins goalie to pounce on the rebound.
Miller was open because Johnny Boychuk went to defend Andersson, and neither Chara nor Caron covered for him. Just a horrible defensive breakdown and undisciplined hockey from Boston, which have been the themes of tonight’s game.
Third Period, 7:11, Red Wings 4-0: Abdelkader gets around Dougie Hamilton and has a mini breakaway on Rask, but the Bruins goalie makes a great save to keep the score 4-0.
Boston has been a bit better defensively in the third period, but Detroit’s ability to posses the puck and create constant attacking-zone pressure is preventing the Bruins from generating any offense. The B’s have just one shot in the period so far.
Third Period, 1:16, Red Wings 4-0: The first line has been changed a bit. Krejci is now skating with Soderberg and Eriksson. Milan Lucic, Chris Kelly and Brad Marchand are on the third line.
Third Period, 0:01, Red Wings 4-0: The third period is underway!
End of Second Period, Red Wings 4-0: That second period was the Bruins’ worst 20 minutes of hockey all season. Defensive breakdowns, including poor positioning, a lack of effort, not paying attention and getting beat 1-on-1 led to three Red Wings goals in four minutes.
The Red Wings are the quicker team. They are winning the majority of 50-50 puck battles, and they are preventing the Bruins from generating any kind of offense by controlling possession of the puck and not turning it over.
Second Period Stats
Shots: Red Wings 19-10
Hits: Bruins 17-12
Faceoffs: Bruins 27-13
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Second Period, 15:46, Red Wings 4-0:Â Brendan Smith and Brad Marchand get into a shoving match in the Red Wings’ zone, then Zdeno Chara comes in to shove the Red Wings defenseman as the scrum moves to the end boards with at least five players involved.
After all that, Marchand goes to the penalty box for high-sticking. Detroit will have a two-minute power play.
Second Period, 10:30, Red Wings 4-0: The Bruins are down 4-0 for the first time all season. Niklas Kronwall has scored a power-play goal from the left faceoff circle. He received a cross-ice pass from Franzen that should have been intercepted by a Bruins penalty killer.
Boston is being hurt by way too many defensive zone breakdowns, which is forcing Rask to make an incredible save on just about every shift. On too many occasions, the Bruins are just watching the puck, standing around and not being aggressive in front of Rask.
Claude Julien immediately took a timeout and decided to leave Rask in the net.
Second Period, 8:37, Red Wings 3-0:Â This game is slipping away from the Bruins. Just seconds after Gustav Nyquist missed a wide-open net from a foot out, he got the puck below the goal line and fed a pass to Henrik Zetterberg, who quickly released a shot that beat Rask from 15 feet out.
Detroit now has an opportunity to take a 4-0 lead with Adam McQuaid going to the penalty box. The Red Wings are 0-2 on the power play tonight.
Second Period, 7:51, Red Wings 2-0: Boychuk unleashes a rocket from the point that beats Gustavsson but hits the post and bounces to the blue line. Krejci forces Gustavsson to make a save with a backhand shot from the slot on the Bruins’ next shift.
Second Period, 6:30, Red Wings 2-0: Detroit has taken a 2-0 lead. Young forward Tomas Tatar took the puck in the neutral zone and skated down the right side of the ice into the Bruins’ zone, then went around Matt Bartkowski and scored on a wraparound. No one was waiting to defend him when he got to the other side of Rask’s net.
This is the third time this season that Boston has trailed 2-0, and it has lost all three times.
Second Period, 5:10, Red Wings 1-0: Chris Kelly attempts Boston’s first shot of the second period, but he misses just wide. The third line has registered a shot on goal on just about every shift. Soderberg is having another strong game.
Eriksson made a nice defensive play in the attacking zone to force a turnover, but he couldn’t dangle around the defensemen in front of him. That led to a rush up ice and into the Bruins zone by Abdelkader, who found Ericsson in the slot for a great scoring chance, but Krug blocked his shot.
Second Period, 20:00, Red Wings 1-0: The second period is underway!
First Intermission, Red Wings 1-0: The Bruins are 2-1 in games in which they trailed after the first period. They are the only NHL team with a winning percentage above .500 in this scenario.
Detroit is 7-1-3 when leading after the first 20 minutes.
The Bruins have a plus-three goal differential in the second period this season, while the Red Wings have a minus-three differential.
End of First Period, Red Wings 1-0: For a puck-possession team, the Red Wings do a great job creating traffic in front of the net. This has made it difficult for Rask to see shots from the point, but he’s made some solid positional saves so far.
Boston’s forecheck hasn’t been very strong, and it’s allowed Detroit to make a good first pass out of the defensive zone. The Bruins forwards need to pressure the Red Wings defenseman a little more and force some turnovers. Boston’s two best scoring chances occurred as a result of a strong forecheck.
The B’s also need more production from their top-six forwards. David Krejci is the only first or second-line forward with a shot on goal.
First Period Stats
Shots: Red Wings 11-7
Hits: 8-8
Faceoffs: Bruins 15-10
First Period, 16:32, Red Wings 1-0: A Red Wings shot from the point is saved by Rask, but he loses control of the puck and several Detroit players try to jam it past him and into the net, including Daniel Alfredsson. Rask finally covers up for a faceoff.
Boston killed off the rest of Boychuk’s penalty with Chris Kelly clearing the puck the length of the ice.
First Period, 14:32, Red Wings 1-0: We have 4-on-4 hockey. Carl Soderberg and Daniel Cleary received minor penalties for interference and tripping, respectively. Shortly after, Johnny Boychuk was sent to the box for hooking, giving Detroit a 4-on-3 power play for 0:12.
VIDEO: Abdelkder’s goal gives Red Wings a 1-0 lead.
First Period, 11:49, Red Wings 1-0: The Red Wings have taken the lead. Franzen came out of the penalty box to lead a 3-on-2 rush after a bad Bruins line change following their power play. His wrist shot on Tuukka Rask was saved, but Justin Abdelkader put in the rebound at the top of the crease.
First Period, 11:45, 0-0: The Bruins are now 0-2 on the power play, but their second PP was much better than the first. The B’s moved the puck well, created several scoring chances and spent most of the two minutes in the attacking zone. They registered three shots on goal.
First Period, 10:10, 0-0: The Bruins are going back on the power play. Johan Franzen caught Zdeno Chara with a high stick. Boston is 0-1 with the man advantage so far.
First Period, 8:58, 0-0: Red Wings forward Darren Helm earned a short-handed breakaway, but he shot the puck wide of Tuukka Rask. Torey Krug couldn’t handle a bouncing puck at the blue line, and Helm used his speed to grab the puck and skate toward the Bruins’ zone.
Boston registered zero shots on goal with the man advantage. Dougie Hamilton’s blast from the blue line was blocked. Overall, it was a poor power play for the B’s. They didn’t spend much time in the attacking zone, and Detroit got the best scoring chance on Helm’s breakaway.
First Period, 6:19, 0-0: The Bruins are going on their first power play of the game. Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith is going to the penalty box for interference.
Boston’s power play ranks 14th in the NHL, while Detroit’s penalty kill ranks sixth.
First Period, 5:36, 0-0: David Krejci tries to beat Jonas Gustavsson blocker side with a booming slap shot, but the Red Wings goalie makes a save. It was the first quality scoring chance of the game.
McQuaid looks good in his return after an eight-game absence. He broke up a pass in the defensive zone intended for Henrik Zetterberg and is playing the physical style of hockey we’ve come to expect from him.
Soderberg is also skating well. He just moved his way to the top of the crease and forced Gustavsson to make another strong save.
7:40 p.m.: The puck has been dropped, and we’re underway from Joe Louis Arena.
7:28 p.m.: Adam McQuaid is in the lineup tonight. He replaces Kevan Miller on the Boston blue line. Fourth-line winger Shawn Thornton is a healthy scratch, and he will be replaced by Jordan Caron.
7:06 p.m.: Forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi, as well as defenseman Dan DeKeyser, won’t play for the Red Wings tonight.
For the Bruins, defenseman Adam McQuaid is taking warmups, but his official status for tonight has not been announced.
6:30 p.m.: Adam McQuaid is a game-time decision for tonight’s game. The veteran defenseman hasn’t played since Nov. 9, but Kevan Miller has done a tremendous job replacing McQuaid’s physical presence on the blue line since being called up from Providence.
Fellow defenseman Dennis Seidenberg will not play on Wednesday due to an injury, but he did make the trip to Detroit. As a result, the Bruins will use the same six defensemen from Monday’s win over the Penguins.
Other items of note include Reilly Smith playing against his brother Brendan for the third time this season.
This game against Detroit is also a homecoming for Torey Krug, a native of nearby Livonia, Mich. The 22-year-old defenseman attended Michigan State University and was a Red Wings fan as a kid. This is his first ever regular-season game at Joe Louis Arena as an NHL player.
8 a.m. ET: The Boston Bruins are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and lead the Eastern Conference with 34 points after a thrilling overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
The B’s next game is at Joe Louis Arena, where they will clash with an Original Six rival, the Detroit Red Wings, on Wednesday. The Red Wings, who sit in a third-place tie in the Atlantic division with 29 points, are just 2-3-5 in their last 10 games, and the challenge of beating a talented Bruins team has increased in difficulty with superstar center Pavel Datsyuk unable to play because of a head injury.
These teams have split the first two meetings of the season, and this is the first of three regular-season matchups that will be played in Detroit.
Follow all of the action right here with NESN’s live blog. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
