Final, Red Wings 3-2: The Bruins led midway through the third period, but they weren’t able to finish the job. Despite a late push in the final minute, the Red Wings were able to hold off the B’s to give the Bruins their first regulation road loss since Jan. 9.
Third period, 19:22, Red Wings 3-2: The Red Wings finally controlled the puck after a strong possession from the Bruins, but Detroit had to ice the puck. The Bruins took their timeout.
Third period, 18:45, Red Wings 3-2: The Bruins have pulled Tuukka Rask in favor of the extra attacker.
Third period, 17:30, Red Wings 2-1: The Bruins had a tremendous chance to tie the game when Torey Krug skated through the slot and right into position for a one-timer from the right circle. However, he couldn’t get a stick on the pass, and a great look goes by without Boston taking advantage.
Third period, 12:48, Red Wings 3-2: The Red Wings have their first lead of the game.
Gustav Nyquist just beat Tuukka Rask glove side on a breakaway that started because Zdeno Chara got beat through the neutral zone. Chara didn’t have any help, however, because Andrej Meszaros was slow getting off the ice, which didn’t allow Dougie Hamilton to get on the ice for reinforcements.
Either way, the Bruins’ road winning streak is now in jeopardy.
Third period, 11:10, 2-2: Once again, it’s a tie hockey game.
Tomas Jurco just scored the game-tying goal after a huge scramble in front of the net. Tomas Tatar kicked the puck to Jurco who could just get enough on the puck to push it by Tuukka Rask.
Third period, 9:30, Bruins 2-1: The two goalies just made some incredible plays.
First, it was Tuukka Rask who made a save on Tomas Tatar and then a quick second-chance save on Tomas Jurco to keep the lead intact. At the other end, the Bruins’ third line worked a 2-on-1 that Carl Soderberg held. He waited for Torey Krug to jump into the rush and then fed the D-man. Krug’s shot was stopped by Jimmy Howard, though.
Third period, 5:33, Bruins 2-1: The Red Wings thought they had a 2-on-1, but Dougie Hamilton made a fine defensive play.
Johan Franzen and Gustav Nyquist skated into the zone with the puck when Franzen tried to send the puck across the slot. Hamilton hit the ice and made a nice play with the stick to break up the pass.
Third period, 1:10, Bruins 2-1: Talk about Heart Attack City for the Bruins.
Patrice Bergeron was felled by a shot and looked to be in a ton of pain. He was slow to get up and then was putting just a little bit of weight on his left leg. He eventually got up and stayed with the play. Moments later, he zipped a pass through the zone to Carl Soderberg, and Soderberg beat Jimmy Howard with the go-ahead goal.
Third period, 0:01, 1-1: The third period is underway, and the Bruins have almost an entire power play to work with.
End second period, 1-1: The siren just sounded, and the Bruins will carry 1:57 of power-play time into the third period.
The B’s are dominating the shots game, as they own a 25-11 advantage in shots on goal through 40 minutes.
Second period, 19:57, 1-1: The Bruins are likely to have a power play when the third period begins. Darren Helm was just called for hooking in the final seconds of the second.
Second period, 19:00, 1-1: The Bruins have killed off the penalty.
Second period, 17:00, 1-1: The Bruins just had a couple of chances right in the Detroit slot. Not only did the Bruins fail to capitalize, they’re going to have to kill off a penalty now.
Jordan Caron took an offensive zone penalty, as he was called for cross-checking, and the B’s penalty kill will go to work late in the period.
Second period, 15:53, 1-1: The Boston power play just came to an unsuccessful end, but the Bruins should have netted the g0-ahead goal. Loui Eriksson had a loose puck in front, but Eriksson couldn’t finish it, as he sent the puck through the crease.
Second period, 13:53, 1-1: The Bruins are going on the power play after a scary-looking hit on Johnny Boychuk. The Boston defenseman was shoved into the boards from behind by Tomas Jurco, and Jurco is going to the box for two.
Second period, 9:12, 1-1: The Bruins weren’t able to get anything on the power play, with the first unit looking especially ineffective. That group is missing Jarome Iginla and has Andrej Meszaros with Torey Krug at the point. That was the unit that was on the ice midway through the power play when the Red Wings were actually able to generate a couple of shorthanded chances with shots on goal, but Tuukka Rask made the saves on both.
Second period, 7:12, 1-1: The Bruins came close to getting the lead back with a furious rush from the third line that left a pile of bodies in front. The player at the bottom of that pile was Chris Kelly, and that’s because Brian Lashoff pulled Kelly down.
Lashoff is heading to the penalty box, and the Bruins will get another chance on the power play. They’re 0-for-1 so far, but they should be 1-for-1 after Torey Krug’s would-be goal was waved off in the first period.
Second period, 4:45, 1-1: We’ve got a tie hockey game.
Tomas Tatar just used a real nasty wrist shot from right faceoff circle that beat Tuukka Rask stickside as the Boston goalie was being screened in front of the net.
Second period, 3:44, Bruins 1-0: Patrice Bergeron doesn’t usually get caught chasing a player around and then getting his stick caught in the player, but it just happened.
Bergeron hooked Tomas Tatar, and the Red Wings are going on the power play for the first time in this game.
Second period, 0:01, Bruins 1-0: The second period is underway.
End first period, Bruins 1-0: The first period just came to an end, and it was a good one for the Bruins. They’ll take the 1-0 lead to the dressing room.
The GIF below shows the Torey Krug goal that was waved off because of Zdeno Chara’s supposed interference in front of the net.
First period, 16:50, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins had a power-play goal waved off when Torey Krug ripped a shot from the left point to beat Jimmy Howard. The referee ruled that Zdeno Chara interfered with Howard somehow. Replays showed otherwise.
Just about a minute later, though, Johnny Boychuk put the Bruins on the board with a blast of his own, this one from the right point.
First period, 14:39, 0-0: The Bruins will get the game’s first power play.
Gustav Nyquist just held David Krejci as the Bruins’ center entered the zone, and the B’s will be up a man for the next two minutes.
First period, 14:00, 0-0: The Red Wings’ best chance just came off the stick of Todd Bertuzzi. The Detroit forward was able to outwork Kevan Miller to a loose puck at the Bruins blue line and walked in on Tuukka Rask. Bertuzzi put a quick shot on goal, but Rask was able to make a blocker save to keep the game scoreless.
First period, 11:25, 0-0: The Bruins continue to dominate much of the puck possession battle, as they have put the game’s last four shots on goal including a chance from Carl Soderberg in the slot that Jimmy Howard somehow got with a blocker and deflected the puck to the corner.
The Red Wings responded with a strong shift that hemmed the Bruins in deep, but despite the long offensive-zone shift, they weren’t able to get a shot on goal.
First period, 6:58, 0-0: Patrice Bergeron had a golden chance to extend his goal-scoring streak to eight games, but he was denied by Jimmy Howard.
Torey Krug made a terrific pass up the ice to Bergeron that got the Boston forward in all alone on the Detroit goalie. Howard poked the puck off of Bergeron’s stick to break up the chance.
First period, 6:00, 0-0: This has been a really nice start for the Bruins, although the shots on goal total may not indicate that. Both teams have just two shots on goal, but the Bruins have definitely had the better of the offensive zone time. That started with a good shift from the fourth line and has carried right on through up until this point.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The Bruins and Red Wings are underway in Detroit.
7:44 p.m.: Bruins radio play-by-play man Dave Goucher says Jarome Iginla is getting the night off, and Jordan Caron will be in the lineup. Here the line combinations, according to Goucher.
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Loui Eriksson
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly — Carl Soderberg — Jordan Caron
Daniel Paille — Gregory Campbell — Shawn Thornton
7:40 p.m.: Jarome Iginla is not on the ice for pregame warmups, so it appears as if the resting has begun.
7:30 p.m.: The Bruins and Red Wings have taken the ice for pregame warmups in Detroit, and Tuukka Rask versus Jimmy Howard will be the goaltending matchup.
7:05 p.m.: The Bruins are well aware of what Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist is capable of doing. The Swedish winger was recalled shortly before these two teams last met in late November, and he was a force against the Bruins. Nyquist only logged 11:48 of ice time, but he made the most of that time. He scored a goal and added an assist as the Wings routed the Bruins.
The rest of the league has gotten a crash course on Nyquist since. He’s been a big reason the Red Wings have stayed in postseason contention despite the fact that Detroit has lost 379 man games to injury this year.
Nyquist has registered 27 goals and 18 assists in 50 games with the wings, which includes six power-play tallies. He’s been especially good recently. Nqyuist was named the NHL’s second star for the month of March. He was able to record 12-6-18 totals in 15 games during the month.
12:45 p.m.: It also appears as if Carl Soderberg, whose wife is due to go into labor soon, will also be in the lineup against the Red Wings.
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12:37 p.m.: David Krejci has been dealing with a sore throat, but he has declared himself good to go against Detroit, according to the Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy.
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12:20 p.m.: Tuukka Rask was the first goalie off the ice at Bruins morning skate, which means he’ll likely be in net against Detroit.
11:33 a.m.: The Bruins’ morning skate has begun, and everyone is present and accounted for, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
11:25 a.m.: We have our answer on Pavel Datsyuk. He’s out for Wednesday night’s game against the Bruins. Datsyuk participated in the morning skate, but his conditioning isn’t quite where it needs to be.
The Wings will also be without Daniel Alfredsson. He’s reportedly been dealing with a number of injuries.
11 a.m.: The Boston Bruins are into the final month of the regular season, and they’ll begin their slate with what could be a look of things to come in the second season.
The B’s are in Detroit for a Wednesday night tilt with the Detroit Red Wings. The B’s and Wings could very well meet up in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs as Detroit is currently set up as one of the two wild card teams. If the playoffs started Wednesday, the Bruins would get the Columbus Blue Jackets, but just one point separates the Blue Jackets and Red Wings at the moment.
Wednesday’s matchup marks the fourth and final matchup between the two new division rivals. The Wings have taken two out of the three matchups this year, including a 6-1 Thanksgiving Eve drubbing in Detroit back on Nov. 27. The B’s responded by going on to win six of their next seven games.
Things have changed mightily since that November game, which was the last time these two clubs met. The Bruins have used an incredible month of March to launch themselves to the top of the Eastern Conference standings while wrapping up the Atlantic Division along the way. The B’s have won 15 of their last 16 and have also taken over the NHL’s lead in points and have put themselves in position to win the Presidents’ Trophy and wrap up home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Red Wings, meanwhile, have had to scratch and claw for everything they’ve been able to get this season. Injuries remain the biggest reason the Wings have had to battle for a playoff spot. Superstar forwards Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk have both missed a huge chunk of the schedule, and Zetterberg’s return for the playoffs is still up in the air. Datsyuk’s outlook is a little more optimistic, and the playmaking wizard could actually be back in the lineup as early as Wednesday night. He said Tuesday that he’d be a game-time decision against the Bruins.
The Bruins are expected to start resting some of their regulars at some point, and it’s unclear whether that will begin Wednesday night. Everyone was scheduled to make the trip to Detroit including Ryan Spooner, who was recalled from Providence on Tuesday morning on an emergency basis. That’s because the B’s could lose Carl Soderberg during the road trip as his wife is nearing labor. David Krejci has also been battling a sore throat, Boston head coach Claude Julien revealed Tuesday. So it’s entirely possible that Spooner is in the lineup at some point.
Puck drop for Wednesday night’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m.
