Detroit Red Wings’ efforts undone by Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins in 5-1 loss

Detroit Free Press

Brad Marchand returned just in time to spoil the Detroit Red Wings‘ attempts to hold their own against one of the top teams in the NHL.

Beating a forecasted Thanksgiving return following double hip surgery, Marchand had two goals and an assist for the Boston Bruins on Thursday at TD Garden. The Wings (3-2-2) skated well and created good scoring chances until the third period, when the Bruins (7-1-0) scored scored three goals in less than two minutes to pull out a 5-1 victory.

Adam Erne scored his second goal of the season and Ville Husso made 26 saves as the Wings played with a patched lineup. Matt Luff was called up from the minors to fill in for Oskar Sundqvist, whose upper-body injury comes the week after the Wings lost forwards Tyler Bertuzzi (upper body) and Jakub Vrana (players assistance program).

BETTER TIMES:After so many disadvantaged seasons, power play a positive for Red Wings

LOCKING IN:‘Hyper’ Red Wings need to take a deep breath and relax. Here’s why

A fast-paced first period drew a number of good saves from Husso and counterpart Jeremy Swayman. In the first few minutes, Husso denied Jake DeBrusk, Trent Frederic and David Krejci. The Wings killed off a penalty to Dominik Kubalik, holding the Bruins without a shot on net for the two-minute stretch. A good opening performance was blemished when the Wings couldn’t get the puck out, and the Bruins took advantage during a line change with Charlie Coyle coming off the bench and scoring at 13:42.

The Wings didn’t get much going during a power play early in the second period. Their penalty kill came through again shortly afterwards, with Kubalik and Pius Suter applying pressure to eat up valuable seconds and generate a scoring chance. Michael Rasmussen was called for a second straight penalty midway through the second period, and Marchand was wide open in the left circle to fire a shot from the dots to make it 2-0 a minute into Boston’s third power play.

The Wings finally were rewarded for their hard work with a minute to go in the second period. Filip Hronek was able to keep the puck in at the blue line, and Erne caught the puck, spun around, and fired a shot through traffic that pulled them within a goal. That was Hronek’s fifth assist in seven games.

Their rallying attempts were stifled when Rasmussen went to the box for a third straight time, and Marchand was at the net to make it 3-1 at 2:55 of the third period. Former Wings forward Tomas Nosek drove the net to set up a goal by Craig Smith 35 seconds later, and David Pastrnak improved the Bruins to 3-for-5 on power plays with a goal at 4:34.

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 latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

Articles You May Like

SSOTD: Capitals vs. Red Wings, 3/26/2024
Grading Steve Yzerman’s Free Agent Signings as Red Wings GM
Red Wings’ Coaching Comes Into Question During Playoff Push
NHL Rumors: Oilers, Maple Leafs, Canucks, Red Wings
Red Wings Have a Star in the Making With Lucas Raymond

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *