Bruins snap Red Wings hex
Pastrnak strikes for 42nd goal of the season
The Boston Bruins stopped playing down to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Bruins snapped the Red Wings’ inexplicable five-game hex with a 4-1 victory Saturday afternoon before a capacity crowd of 17,850 at TD Garden. The Bruins improved to 36-11-12 and secured their hold on first place in the Atlantic Division over the surging Tampa Bay Lightning.
BRUINS RED WINGS 4 1
The Bruins begin a fourgame road swing on Sunday afternoon against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Red Wings (14-42-4) cemented their league-worst record, with five fewer wins than any NHL team.
“We wanted to make sure we got a win today,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “We’ve had a couple of losses to them this year and we wanted to take care of business in the right manner and I think everyone was involved so it was a good hockey game in that regard.
“We didn’t steal anything and that’s a good way to hit the road feeling good about your game. I think it’s just an extension of what we’ve been doing the last two weeks.”
The Bruins’ initial power play was operating at peak efficiency when an errant pass by defenseman Torey
Krug resulted in a two-onone breakout and an early deficit.
Krug’s pass to David Pastrnak in the left circle was intercepted by Darren Helm, who exited the zone on the right wall with Luke Glendening on his flank. Helm weighed his options and fired a wrist shot that Tuukka Rask stopped but could not contain. Helm collected the rebound and tucked it 5-hole at 3:12 for his ninth of the season.
The Bruins dominated the remainder of the frame with extended zone time on line changes while pouring 18 fruitless shots on Detroit goalie Jonathan Bernier, who finished with 37 saves. Krug led the procession with four shots on goal in the period.
Bernier withstood a power-play volley in the opening minute of the second and later rejected broadside potshots by Karson Kuhlman and Jake DeBrusk before his luck exceeded its shelf life.
Boston tied the game at 8:01 on a slap shot from the
high slot by defenseman Charlie McAvoy. Bernier stopped Brad Marchand’s bid from the crease but his clearing attempt found its way to McAvoy, who went stick side for his second of the season.
“We got some confidence off that and obviously we have haven’t had the success we would like against Detroit,” said left wing Anders Bjork. “We have a confident team in here and we knew we would break through if we kept playing the right way.”
The Bruins went up 2-1 on a short-handed goal by Patrice Bergeron at 9:40. McAvoy cleared the zone and set up a mismatched footrace between Marchand and Wings defenseman Mike Green. Marchand controlled the puck on the side wall and made a diagonal pass to Bergeron, who backhanded it by Bernier for his 25th of the season.
“Marcie made a big play winning the puck there and Bergy’s goal was a big goal for us,” said Cassidy. “That killed any momentum they were going to establish.”
Boston went up 3-1 on a sequence Danton Heinen set in motion from behind the Wings cage. Heinen fed McAvoy at the left point for an uncontested slap shot through a screen. The rising disc was redirected inside the far post by Charlie Coyle at 12:30 for his 13th of the season.
The Bruins made it 4-1 on a brilliant play by Marchand at 13:03 of the third. Marchand forced a turnover in the Boston end and reached the Detroit blue line with Pastrnak trailing the rush. Marchand undressed Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou in the left circle before feeding Pastrnak for an easy tip-in for his 42nd goal of the season.