Wednesday Rivalry Night on NBCSN kicked off with an hour-long preview of the game with Mike Milbury and company giving the rundown of the up coming game and the recent and not so recent history between the two Original Six teams. The most noteworthy part of the pregame came from TSN insider Bob McKenzie discussing Mike Babcock’s contract situation. He was careful to point out that nothing he said was breaking news, however he did say it was “interesting” that he didn’t have a contract before the start of the season. The long and short of it was that it’s all circumstantial and anything can happen and that he expects it to play out until the end of the season. They also dusted over the possibility of Detroit trading for Buffalo’s Tyler Meyers and the substantial price tag Buffalo is asking for.
The game itself was dominated by the Bruins. Badly out shooting Detroit, the Bruins should have been up 20-2 if not for the play of Jimmy Howard. Tuukka Rask helped the Bruins stay in the game at points but the absolute smothering play of the forwards and support from the defense left the Wings wanting.
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1st Period Recap-“Howard Bails Them Out”: Detroit Red Wings: 1 – Boston Bruins: 1; Shots: Detroit: 4 – Boston: 13
The Swedish 5 of Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson started the game for the Wings who ultimately came out flat. After a choppy start with some whistles for hand passes and off-sides the Bruins took the play to the Wings making up for the game played last week where the Bruins were held without a shot for nearly half the first period and did not let up on the rusty Detroit team. Face-offs were lost left and right by Wings forwards and the team was bailed out by Jimmy Howard 12/13 times. David Krejci opened the scoring at 14:48 in the period after Kyle Quincey pinched up and he glided through Jakub Kindl and Justin Abdelkader lifting one over a sprawling Jimmy Howard. The play continued to favor the Bruins until the “Kid Line” of Riley Sheahan, Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco dumped the puck into the zone and chased it down ultimately ending with Tatar in the slot burying the puck passed Tuukka Rask. The momentum did not swing the Wings way and they went nearly 4 minutes after the goal without a shot on net as the Bruins continued to muck up the neutral zone and keep the Wings pinned behind their own blue. Kronwall was whistled for interference after he made contact with Brad Marchand after Zdeno Chara slashed his stick out of his hands. The Wings, Drew Miller in particular, killed the penalty continuing their perfect streak on the season at 8/8. Later Daniel Paille was whistled for roughing Luke Glendening. The top line was again denied and the Kid Line joined by Andrej Nestrasil were unsuccessful at generating another goal.
2nd Period Recap-Bruins Smothering Wings: Detroit Red Wings: 1 – Boston Bruins: 2; Shots: Detroit: 12 – Boston: 24
The Bruins continued their dominance of the Wings out shooting them by double but as the period carried on Detroit started to push back. Lead by the Kid Line Detroit started to show signs of life while Jimmy Howard continued to bail out the struggling team. Kyle Quincey and Jakub Kindl continue to be a weak link and the Swedish five were split up as Babcock started moving pieces in and out of the top line. Glendening had one of the better chances of the period after blocking a Krejci pass and earning a breakaway but he was unable to put the puck behind Rask. Detroit continued to struggle in the face offs but was able to gain ground in that department making the totals 21-18 in favor of Boston. Riley Smith scored the lone goal of the period, which was fortunate for the Wings considering how many 2 on 1 chances the Bruins had, after Patrice Bergeron tried a wrap around attempt that ended up on Smith’s stick then in the back of the net. Near the end of the period Franzen was tripped by a sprawling Milan Lucic drawing a power play and probably the best chances of the night but the Kid line + Nestrasil. Bergeron blocked a Danny DeKeyser shot and had to leave the ice and the Kid Line poured on the pressure to no avail. The period ends with Detroit trailing 2-1 and given the chances the Bruins are getting it should be worse if not for the play of Howard.
3rd Period Recap- “The Jimmy Howard Show”: Detroit Red Wings: 2 – Boston Bruins: 2; Shots: Detroit: 18 – Boston: 34
Jimmy Howard absolutely kept his team in the game bailing them out as the Bruins continued to pour shot after shot on net. Both teams traded decent scoring chances generating many 2 on 1 chances, mostly for Boston. Kindl took a rough hit from behind and was knocked out of the game temporarily. A penalty wrought period yielded the first real offense from the Zetterberg line. With Franzen causing trouble in front of the net Nyquist gained time and space and lasers a shot over the shoulder of Rask into the top corner. The game went to overtime after Howard stood on his head keeping the Bruins off the scoreboard after consecutive chances late in the period. The Wings will at least earn 1 point in a game the were thoroughly outplayed in.
OT and Shootout Recap-“Hang on to Your Butts”: Detroit Red Wings: 2 – Boston Bruins: 3; Shots: Detroit: 20 – Boston: 39
As was the same for the rest of the game Boston continued their dominance electing at times to play with 3 forwards and 1 defenseman. Detroit lucked out after several minutes of Howard continuing to bail out his team when Bergeron took an ill-timed hooking penalty. Detroit was not able to capitalize on the chance and headed to a shootout.
In the shootout Detroit went first starting with Andrej Nestrasil of all people who was poke checked off the puck after attempting a deke. Boston countered with Krejci who beat Howard in the same fashion as in the first. Nyquist went next and sent a shot sailing over an unflinching Tuukka Rask. Next came Riley Smith who buried a shot past Jimmy Howard and Boston walked away winning the shootout 2-0 and the game 3-2.
In the end Detroit walks away from a game in which they had no business getting anything out of. Jimmy Howard deserves a lot of praise for his efforts while the rest of the team should be dressed down for not competing hard enough and losing so often in the corners and at the face-off dot. A lot of credit should go to Boston who absolutely shut Detroit down and hemmed them into their own zone. It would ultimately be surprising if there aren’t any roster changes before the start of the next game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday