Bruins take advantage of mistakes to beat Wings
DETROIT Tuukka Rask finished with a 23-save shutout to give the Boston Bruins a 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night for a 2-1 playoff series lead.
Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron scored in the first period, and Patrice Bergeron added an emptynet goal late in the game. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins are ahead for the first time in the opening-round series. And, it seems like a commanding lead the way Boston has played the past two games. Detroit has to win Game 4 on Thursday night to avoid f acing elimination when the series shifts back to Boston.
Jimmy Howard made 31 saves for the Red Wings, who needed him to make what appeared to be a routine stop midway through the first period on the first goal. He couldn’t.
Hamilton’s wrist shot from the top of the right circle beat Howard’s glove on a power play after Detroit had too many men on the ice.
The Red Wings didn’t have enough players in position to stop the second goal. After a poorly timed line change, Caron was all alone in front of the net and scored off a rebound. Detroit had a 5-on-3 power play for 35 seconds midway through the second period and could not take advantage.
The Red Wings had perhaps their best chance early in the third period, but Rask made a sprawling stop to get his glove on Justin Abdelkader’s shot. Detroit did not have many other opportunities against Rask, who ended up with his fourth career playoff shutout.
Detroit had a power play midway through the third period and got only one shot to Rask, whose teammates prevented the puck from getting to him all night.