The Detroit Red Wings did what they needed and clawed their way into the game.
They rallied from a two-goal deficit Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena to earn 5-3 victory over the Boston Bruins, snapping a six-game losing streak.
Alex Nedeljkovic contributed 47 saves as the Wings (27-34-9) won for the first time since March 22. Officials had to break up a skirmish after the final whistle as multiple players squared off and the ice was littered with sticks and gloves.
“You get down 2-0 it’s a tough thing for what we’ve been going through,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “It’s easy to fold and we didn’t. We stayed with it. Part of that is Ned made some saves. Our penalty kill gave us some jump, a little momentum. IT was important we had that mental toughness.”
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Dylan Larkin netted his 30th goal, and Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina scored in the second period. Jakub Vrana added a power play goal early in the third period. That was the Wings’ fourth man advantage, and Nedeljkovic had to make five saves during the first three, one less than counterpart Jeremy Swayman.
Patrice Bergeron scored with 2:36 left in regulation, while Larkin and uber-pest Brad Marchand were serving concurrent slashing penalties, to pull the Bruins within a goal, but Sam Gagner found an empty net with 47 seconds to play.
“It wasn’t the best start,” Larkin said. “We gave up a shorthanded goal but we stuck with it. We got some timely goals. Ned made big saves at big times. That’s the energy and passion we have to play with. It hadn’t been there, and it’s hard to find yourself in a rut, but almost everyone had some jump, had some life. It was really good to see.”
Shorted at home
Erik Haula scored at 4:43 of the first period, sniping a pass from Taylor Hall on a play that also saw former Wings forward Tomas Nosek earn an assist. The damage worsened 10 minutes later, even as the Bruins had a guy (Marc McLaughlin) sitting in the box for high-sticking Adam Erne. The Bruins gained control of the puck off the draw, and both Bergeron and Derek Forbort had quality shots on Nedeljkovic before Brandon Carlo put the puck in the net. It’s the second time in three games, and second straight time at home, that the Wings have given up a shorthanded goal.
Larkin hits milestone
The Wings got another power play in the first period, at 17:18, and Marchand took advantage of Vrana’s give-away to force a save from Nedeljkovic. That was the Bruins’ 18th shot on net. It was huge for the Wings, then, when Larkin scored in the final minute of the period, using Oskar Sundqvist as a screen to send the puck behind Swayman and cutting the deficit to 2-1. It marked the second time in his career Larkin has reached 30 goals; he scored 32 in 76 games in 2018-19.
Showing hustle
The Wings got through killing a penalty to start the second period, and then got a hustle shift out of their third line to tie the game. Rasmussen, Sundqvist and Adam Erne were buzzing around Boston’s zone, and were rewarded with a goal from Rasmussen, his second in two games, at 7:48. The Wings scored for a third straight time at 11:32, when Vrana and Zadina raced up the flanks and Vrana fed Zadina for a one-timer. That was Zadina’s first goal in nine games.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.