Bruins pull away in third period, thump Red Wings

DETROIT — Erik Haula scored a tiebreaking goal in the second period and the Boston Bruins pulled away with three more in the third to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Sunday.

Patrice Bergeron had his fifth goal in three games against Detroit this season. Charlie McAvoy, Trent Frederic and Tomas Nosek also scored for the Bruins.

Haula’s goal was just his second in 27 games this season. His other came Nov. 13 against New Jersey.

“The positive was I was getting a lot of good chances, so I was doing something right,” said Haula, who also hit the post on a breakaway later in the period. “Some of it was on me, some of it was a little bit of puck luck. I’ve definitely hit enough posts to go around for the year. Hopefully, I can start hitting the net a little more.”

Jeremy Swayman made 23 saves as Boston won for the second time in two days after six consecutive postponements due to COVID-19 outbreaks. The Bruins defeated Buffalo 4-3 in overtime Saturday.

“Going in the third period with a onegoal lead, we weren’t obviously satisfied with that,” Swayman said. “We knew that an insurance goal was needed and the boys got it done. It was fun to watch.”

Coach Bruce Cassidy has split up the formidable first line of Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, and that has energized his other forwards.

“They’re elite players, they get their due for obvious reasons,” Cassidy said. “That’s always going to be around a little bit, that they’re going to be relied on and players will lean on them. When you split it up, there might be a little more oxygen in the room for the secondary guys at times.”

Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings. Alex Nedeljkovic, playing his first game since Dec. 16, stopped 32 shots.

Bertuzzi put Detroit ahead 1-0 when he positioned himself to the side of the net and scored on a rebound of Danny DeKeyser’s shot.

Bergeron scored off a feed from Craig Smith later in the period.

Shortly after exiting the penalty box, Haula lifted the puck over Nedeljkovic’s left shoulder at 7:37 of the second period.

McAvoy’s goal at 5:59 of the third off Taylor Hall’s pass gave Boston a two-goal advantage. Frederic banged in a rebound less than two minutes later for his first goal this season. Nosek scored at 10:40 of the period.