FINAL SCORE: Red Wings 6, Bruins 3
IN BRIEF: While the Bruins answered the Red Wings' first two goals with three of their own, Detroit answered with four unanswered goals to close it out.
BRUINS RECORD: 47-23-9 (103 points), 2nd in Atlantic Division
FROM JOE HAGGERTY
So far, so good for Kevan Miller, who has blocked a bunch of shots and is playing a rugged brand of defense in his zone in his first game back in a long time. In the second period Miller fired a point shot at the net that David Backes threw a tip on in the high slot that then tied the game at two apiece in the second period. He had an assist, a plus-1 rating, a couple of hits and a blocked shot in 14 plus minutes while still moving forward in the third period, and he certainly didn’t look at worse for the wear while coming back from an upper-body injury.
Brad Marchand now has 26 career shorthanded goals after scoring one late in the second period as a then go-ahead goal prior to the Bruins blowing it up in the third against Detroit. The 26 shorties now make him the all-time franchise leader on the Bruins just ahead of Rick Middleton, and Marchand has plenty of seasons left to build up that total. He’s already become the most dangerous penalty killer in Bruins history and it feels like he’s just getting started. On this one it was Brandon Carlo flipping a long pass out of the D-zone that sprung both Patrice Bergeron and Marchand on an odd-man rush prior to Marchand finishing at the net.
Boston Bruins
Anthony Mantha beat Jaroslav Halak to the glove hand twice in the first period. Certainly Halak might have made a glove save on one of those chances, with the PP goal allowed with just a second on the clock being the most likely one, but the Bruins defense also allowed Mantha to camp out wide open in the face-off circle twice for easy shots at the Boston net. Mantha added a power play strike in the third period for his first career NHL hat trick as Mantha, Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi dominated for Detroit. The Bruins continue to have some coverage issues in the D-zone, and Halak had some serious issues with his glove hand on a number of saves the Bruins really could have used on Sunday night. It all led to the Bruins giving up three goals in the third period en route to a losing effort against a miserable Red Wings team just playing out the string.
HIGHLIGHTS
RED WINGS GET ON THE BOARD EARLY
DETROIT SCORES AT THE BUZZER
DEBRUSK FROM KREJCI
MARCHAND TIES IT
FIGHT: ACCIARI DEFENDING HIS TEAMMATE
BACKES PUTS THE B'S OUT IN FRONT
RED WINGS TIE IT UP
AND THEN SCORE OFF THE FOLLOWING FACE OFF
UP NEXT
TUESDAY: @ Blue Jackets, 7 p.m. (NESN)
THURSDAY: @ Wild, 8 p.m. (NESN)
SATURDAY: vs Lightning 1 p.m. (NESN)
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