Detroit Red Wings Don’t Start On Time; Fall to Boston Bruins

Tonight the Red Wings traveled to Boston to take on their Atlantic Division rival the Boston Bruins in an Original Six match-up. The Red Wings came into the game on a two game winning streak and Boston has struggled as of late only winning 4 in their last 10 games.

We all know how much Mike Babcock preaches the importance of “starting on time” and tonight the Wings did not look sharp and looked fairly flat for most of the first period of play. Reilly Smith opened up the scoring just under 3 minutes into the game after ripping a slapper past Jimmy Howard who seemed to be distracted by Kyle Quincey and Brad Marchand battling in front of the net. Detroit had the first power-play opportunity of the game but were unable to capitalize on the David Krejci high-sticking call. Boston severely out-shot the Red Wings early on in the first period and were clearly the more hungry team.

Detroit was able to tie the game up after Justin Abdelkader was able to bury a backhanded shot behind Tuukka Rask as he was falling down in front of the net. The play was set up by an unchallenged Pavel Datsyuk along the half-boards. The Red Wings seemed to find their legs after Abbey’s goal but Gregory Campbell was able to give Boston the go-ahead goal after a mad scramble in front of Jimmy Howard. Just a little over one minute after Campbell’s goal Carl Soderberg was able to put Boston up 3-1 after catching Jimmy Howard out of position once again.

As the period wound down it looked as if Tomas Tatar and the Wings would be able to bring the game within one but the goal was disallowed after video review showed the puck went in off of Tatar’s high stick as he was falling down in front of Rask.

Pavel Datsyuk nearly pulled off some Datysukian Magic early on the second period by skating through three Boston defenders and driving to the net but he was unable to bury his shot. Mike Babcock did some line-juggling in the second period which provided some offensive sparks for the Red Wings. Riley Sheahan nearly gave Detroit their second goal of the game but was stopped by the crossbar. During a stoppage in play Mike Babcock perfectly summed up the game to this point by saying “the team that wants the puck the most usually wins and right now that’s them.”. Both Boston and Detroit continued to buzz and create some decent scoring chances.

A little over thirteen minutes into the second Brad Marchand was called for hooking against Jonathan Ericsson giving the Red Wings their second power-play chance. Tomas Tatar was able to skate in off the half-boards and bury the puck behind Rask with a little help from Riley Sheahan’s net-front presence. Tatar’s power-play goal not only put the Red Wings behind by one goal but also gave Detroit their league-leading 34th power-play goal this season. Detroit had another chance on the power-play shortly afterwards but were unable to find the back of the net and tie the game up. Detroit continued to skate hard and throw pucks at the Boston net as the period expired.

The Red Wings started the third period the way they finished the second by skating hard and earning some decent early scoring chances. Henrik Zetterberg nearly had a breakaway but the opportunity was cut short by a poke check from Tuukka Rask. Gustav Nyquist nearly connected with Justin Abdelkader on a one-timer but Abbey just barely over-skated the play. The nail in the coffin came when Brain Lashoff was called for hooking against Reilly Smith. The Red Wings were unable to clear the puck late into the penalty-kill and Seth Griffin was able to score and put the Bruins up 4-2.

Detroit did have one final chance on the man-advantage with around 5 minutes left in the game after Dougie Hamilton was called for interference. Despite Detroit’s recent power-play success and also pulling Jimmy Howard the Wings never found the back of the net again. With Howard still pulled for the extra attacker after the Hamilton penalty expired Chris Kelly was able to get the empty net goal to seal the deal.

It was a perfect recipe for a loss. Boston was coming off a horrible loss to Columbus just two days ago and found themselves on the outside looking in at a playoff spot. The Red Wings came out flat and weren’t able to find their game and their legs until it was too late. Jimmy Howard seemed to be out of position and out of the crease too many times which lead to a couple of Boston goals.

It seems at times that this Detroit team doesn’t really find their legs or their fire for the game until they find themselves backed into a corner. This type of play leads to some exciting late game heroics but it also leads to a lot of lost games. For as much as Babcock preaches “starting on time” this team sometimes forgets to set their alarms. Oh well, at least we didn’t have to deal with Lucic’s scumbaggery.

LGRW