The Boston Bruins made it two in a row for new head coach Joe Sacco as they came to Detroit looking for another strong performance against the Red Wings. Once again it was a defensive struggle but once again, the Bruins defense held for the second straight game. Jeremy Swayman bounced back to stop 19 out of 20 shots as once again the Bruins defense suffocated their opponent. On the offensive side, the power play woke up with Justin Brazeau sniping his fifth goal of the season in the first period. Lucas Raymond scored with one minute left in the period and the game wasn't decided until the third. With 8:30 left, Brad Marchand scored his sixth goal of the season to put the Bruins ahead where the defense held. The Bruins held on to win 2-1 at Little Caesar's Arena.
Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot robbed David Pastrnak point blank just 26 seconds into the game while Swayman stopped a Raymond shot four minutes into the game. Elias Lindholm's slapshot was caught 4:12 into the game but the Bruins caught a break when Marco Kasper was whistled for tripping 6:40 into the game to put Boston on the power play. With a few seconds left in the power play, Mason Lohrei passed it to Tyler Johnson who fired it on net. The puck bounced off Brazeau's stick and it in to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Ironically 23 seconds later, Johnson flipped the puck out of the arena for a delay of game penalty. Swayman made some good stops to kill the penalty including after the power play on a shot by Erik Gustafsson. With three minutes left in the period, Morgan Geekie passed to a wide open Pastrnak but Talbot stoned him for a big save. Mark Kastelic got stopped as well with 1:46 left in the period but then Detroit struck. With 58 seconds left, Dylan Larkin passed up to Vladimir Tarasenko who dished it to Lucas Raymond for a slapshot goal to tie the game. That was it for the first period as the game was tied 1-1.
The second period was a defensive struggle although Detroit got an early power play when Johnson took a tripping penalty 1:35 into the period. Swayman stopped Tarasenko on the doorstep and a wide open Andrew Copp down low. After the penalty was over, Johnson dished to Nikita Zadorov who was stopped by Talbot. Alex DeBrincat almost scored on Swayman but he made the save just over five minutes into the period. A minute later Trent Frederic was robbed but on the other end, Parker Wotherspoon gave the puck to an open Marco Kasper but Swayman made the save. With 9:21 left in the period, Raymond got bagged for hooking and the Bruins went on the power play. As usual they did nothing with it and Wotherspoon got thrown in the box for interference with 4:45 to go in the period. The Red Wings were even worse than the Bruins as they gave the puck away. Pavel Zacha came down on a two on one with Marchand but Zacha failed to score on the pass. John Beecher also had a shorthanded bid denied. With 40 seconds left in the period Frederic passed to Lohrei who missed the net. Copp had an open breakaway with 5 seconds left but Swayman made the save to end the period with the game still tied 1-1.
Four minutes into the third period the puck found Copp streaking toward the Bruins net but the alert Swayman stoned him cold. Just over seven minutes into the period Zacha found Geekie wide open in the slot but Talbot made the save. Kastelic then buried Michael Rasmussen with a check into the boards and then the Bruins went back on top with 8:30 left in the game. Pastrnak passed it to Andrew Peeke who dished it to Marchand who zig zagged in front of the net for his sixth goal of the season to put Boston in front. The Bruins defense smothered Detroit from there until Marchand was called for hooking with 1:22 left in the game. The Red Wings had a 6 on 4 with the goalie pulled and Mortiz Seider beat Swayman glove side but it rang off the post and out, Swayman pouncing on it to stop play. That was it and the Bruins hung on to win 2-1.
Reaction:
Just like the other night against Utah, this was a near defensive masterpiece. With the limited offense the Bruins have, the way to win is to play defense and pray the goalie stands on his head. Swayman made some big saves but holding the Red Wings to 20 shots is on the defense. The problem is they're not going to be able to win every game 1-0 or 2-1 so this isn't sustainable. It might be time to call up Fabian Lysell because what have they got to lose at this point? The Bruins are in danger of not even making the playoffs if the offense doesn't wake up so it might be time to let Lysell sink or swim. As for this game, kudos to Swayman and the defense. Also shout out to Tyler Johnson for his first point of the season. He damn well isn't going to score 29 goals like he did for Tampa Bay six years ago but SOMETHING would be nice. The Bruins improve to 10-9-3 on the season and now travel home to Vancouver to play the Canucks this Tuesday night. The game begins at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.
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