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| Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images |
A thrilling comeback for the Detroit Red Wings led them to victory for a third straight time Wednesday night. Petr Mrazek’s presence in net and Detroit’s fight from 4-1 down returned in a shootout to win 2-1 and beat the Boston Bruins 6-5 at Joe Louis Arena.
The surging Red Wings come into a final game at home against another Atlantic Division rival to gain points in the standings. Their chances for a third straight win come against the Bruins who took a beating to the New York Islanders on Monday. The 4-0 shutout gave them a day off but the need to get back on track in the second half of the season. Boston currently sits in second place with 51 points. The Red Wings sit back in seventh with 44 points trying to inch back up into contention. With two victories over powerful teams, it was likely that Jared Coreau would again see action in net for Detroit carrying with him a two-game winning streak.
Detroit had a target on their backs and quickly saw action from Boston who pushed hard into the Red Wings zone. In just 44 seconds a shot attempt from Adam McQuaid bounced off Coreau before another scoring chance by Frank Vatrano allowed the 22-year-old center man his fourth of the season. Detroit took their time to analyze the play and decided to use their time out challenging the call. Coach Jeff Blashill speculated that Boston was off-sides on the play. Officials reviewed the play and concluded that the Bruins were on a good play.
The Red Wings got a power play on a hi-stick to Luke Glendening but the man advantage turned into a nightmare. A bad turnover in their zone saw Boston quickly go in for a shot that gave Brandon Carlo the shorthanded goal gaining his fourth as well. Much had to be done to change the pace of the game which saw the Red Wings picking up puck possession time in the Bruins end looking for a key moment to get on the board.
They had only two shots in the first seven minutes with more trouble for them to follow. Danny DeKeyser got caught for tripping giving the Bruins their first power play making them even more dangerous. It was 3-0 on another turnover that brought Vatrano back in writing a shot past Coreau for his second of the night.
It led the netminder to come out and be replaced by Mrazek who has a history of saving games when in a hole. A brutal message from Blashill came right before play resumed with the need to get into the game before it got way out of control. It nearly did with the youngster taking a drive that rung off the net nearly giving him his first career hat trick. Boston continued their stance in the Red Wings zone notching their 11th shot in 15 minutes.
The stat became just another factor on how important that the Red Wings get moving. Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar got the message moving fast at Tuukka Rask with a good play between the two. The 20-year-old got into position for a reception of the puck scoring his 12th ending the shutout. Mrazek made another great save for Detroit stopping the surge from the Bruins that livened the Red Wings defense.
A hard hit in the middle of the ice saw Xavier Ouellet go to the penalty box for an interference call allowing Boston for one more chance to score in the period. Patrice Bergeron was at the start and finish of the play that turned into a 4-1 run for Boston. Torey Krug took a shot from far center that went off Bergeron giving the veteran his tenth. The final seconds came off the board ending a brutal twenty minutes where they outshot Detroit 19-6 while outdueling them on the faceoff.
Much had to be done in the second period and for the Red Wings, it was a push that saw very little shots on goal for them. A sign of progress occurred before the five-minute mark that saw Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg take point with a shot at the Boston net. His scoring chance rang off the net getting back out for another shot to be taken. The shot was taken by Ouellett who nailed down a shot with Boston screening Rask by mistake. He never saw the puck flying toward them till it was too late giving the defenseman his second on the year.
Boston retained half their lead over the Red Wings hoping that their momentum would die down. It didn’t as the Red Wings turned the game around with more work coming from the other lines. Andreas Athanasiou got in tie with Tomas Vanek and Mike Green who fought to keep the possession. A final pass to the young star gave him plenty of time to fire a point-blank shot on Rask notching his 10th.
The final six minutes turned into another tug of war that benefitted the Red Wings. An equipment problem saw the Bruins lose the puck in the neutral zone leaving it loose while sliding down toward Rask. Tatar skated fast to get to it first giving him a breakaway chance. It looked as if Rask made the stop but the puck did indeed get by him tying the game at four all and handing Tatar his 10th.
Boston’s early success almost looked to go down in flames but a good shot by McQuaid just 21 seconds later gave them back the lead on a bad beat for Detroit. The shot from the blue line got redirected by defenseman Jonathan Ericsson entering the Detroit net giving him two on the night as well. They finished forty minutes with the notion of being ahead by a goal maintaining the lead back. 12 combined shots were taking in the period with Detroit increasing well with eight.
The third was a more strategic fight for the Bruins who played defense while taking shots to the net while they had possession. The Red Wings searched for offense only shooting four through the first half of the period. Detroit had another power play chance but their special teams were not up to par to get things leveled again.
Time became their second moving obstacle as they had just seven minutes left in regulation to get this game evened for a chance at overtaking Boston or force overtime. With 3:04 left in the game, Gustav Nyquist made that a current reality with hard work all around the Boston zone. Nyquist started the play that went through his line with a shot taken on net. The bounce got to Larkin who found Nyquist on the corner midway in the zone. The Swede took a shot that rung in the net giving him his seventh and a five-all tie.
During the TV timeout, a huge opportunity for Detroit arrived in a penalty to Boston’s David Pastrnak. There was plenty of time for the struggling power play to come together in the most critical moment. The crowd chanted their call for the Red Wings to get the lead while up a man. Rask made the first big save of the two-minute penalty as Detroit tried going in close with the puck. Five on five play returned with Boston’s penalty kill helping them take control in the final seconds. They took a shot to Mrazek but he made the stop with twenty seconds to go. The Red Wings knew that they had to stop Boston to set up an overtime chance to win it.
Boston took their best chance while on 3 on 3 with Brad Marchand going on a breakaway. He went alone on Mrazek but was stopped dead in his tracks. Larkin had his shot as well but the attempt and he were knocked down. The shifts for both teams continued with time running off the clock. Though the clock at 11.5 seconds left, the Red Wings were awarded a 4 on 3 power play that could be enough to win the game. It wasn’t as the full line play was blocked by the Boston defense that extended the game to a shootout.
Athanasiou had the first crack at Rask and but was blocked on a failed backhand. Ryan Spooner tried to get an edge for the Bruins but whacked the puck away on the stick side. Tomas Vanek got Detroit on the board that was followed by Boston’s Marchand leveling it up. Frans Nielsen put Detroit back up making it a huge moment for Mrazek to stop Vatrano who already had two on the night. His shot ended up going wide giving the Red Wings a massive victory and their third straight.
Despite being outshot 33-25 in the 65 minutes of action, their push to be the consistent winners had them recovering from a dismal start making it their clear mission to keep winning points by any means necessary. Though their homestand came to an end, the Red Wings had to go into Buffalo Friday night to face the Sabres.
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