» Bruins’ comeback falls short in 5-3 loss to Wings

The Bruins spotted the Detroit Red Wings a two-goal lead on Saturday before marching back to win the game. But in the return match on Sunday at Little Caesar’s Arena, the B’s learned that there are limits to the head starts they give opponents.

After falling behind 4- 0 late in the second period, the B’s clawed back to within a goal by 6:24 of the third period and had numerous chances to tie it. But the B’s just missed on a couple of backdoor plays and Ville Husso (32 saves) made the stops that were required before Andrew Copp ended it with an empty net goal with 23 seconds left, handing the B’s a 5-3 loss.

It was another rough day for the B’s special teams. The power play went 0-for- 3 and gave up their second shorthanded goal in as many days while the leagueleading penalty kill allowed Detroit to score on two of their three PP chances. And the first 40 minutes looked like the B’s might have been satisfied with having clinched a playoff — a foregone conclusion for months now — by virtue of the Islanders’ loss to Washington on Saturday night.

“We were very lackluster with our effort in the first two periods,” coach Jim Montgomery told NESN. “It was nice to see us have a good push, even down 4-1 and make a game of it. But it was too little too late.”

The B’s have now lost two out of three and, if not for Saturday’s spirited comeback, they could be riding a three-game losing streak.

“We’ve just got to be honest with ourselves that we’re not putting forth the effort that we expect from ourselves,” said Montgomery. “This isn’t the first game. The Calgary game was a little similar. We were tired that day. But there’s no excuse to be tired (on Sunday) because Detroit had the same schedule as us.”

Playing without defenseman Hampus Lindholm, whose foot was swollen after blocking a shot on Saturday (Montgomery said he will play on Tuesday in Chicago), the B’s fell down 1- 0 on a Detroit power-play goal.

Alex Chiasson put the Wings up by a goal with AJ Greer in the box for an offensive zone interference penalty. Jeremy Swayman (21 saves) made a nice stop on a Dylan Larkin bumper shot, but the rebound went right to Chiasson, who scored into the open net at 12:22.