Game 2 Breakdown: Bruins find the scoresheet in a hurry
By Stefan Kubus –
Boston out battled and outgunned Detroit all afternoon long to take a 4-1 win and even the series up at one aside. While Detroit couldn’t get much going, what they do have going for them is that they split the first two games on the road with this season’s Presidents’ Trophy winner, heading home for the next two games.
As I wrote in the Game 1 breakdown, Detroit could not afford to put the Boston power play on the ice. But that’s exactly what happened Sunday afternoon in Game 2 at the TD Garden. The Bruins’ Reilly Smith and Zdeno Chara scored with the man-advantage, and those two would be enough for the win, but Justin Florek and Milan Lucic also scored at even strength. Luke Glendening lit the lamp for Detroit, his first career playoff goal.
Game-changing moment
Lucic’s insurance marker with just 1:44 remaining in the second period sent Detroit to the locker room down by a pair after 40 minutes, rather than just one goal. After Glendening’s goal pulled Detroit to within one earlier in the period, the Lucic tally regained any lost momentum for the Bruins heading into the third period.
Mitten watch
The aforementioned Glendening, a University of Michigan alum, crashed the net hard in the second period and was rewarded with his first career playoff goal to help Detroit temporarily climb back from a 2-0 deficit.
Boston’s Justin Florek (Marquette) opened the scoring with an unassisted tally at 7:28 of the first frame. Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard came out of his net, misplayed a puck that bounced right off defenseman Brendan Smith and went right to Florek. The U.S. NTDP and Northern Michigan alum had himself an empty net for an easy goal and his own first career playoff goal.
A pair of Michigan natives and former Spartans also chipped in on the scoresheet. Drew Miller (East Lansing) picked up an assist, and Torey Krug (Livonia) had a pair of helpers, each tallying their first points of the postseason.
MVP
Tuukka Rask stopped 34 of 35 for Boston and didn’t have to make too many huge saves, but was sound and stable for the entire 60 minutes. He has only allowed one goal in each of the first two games and will continue to be Boston’s backbone as the series proceeds.
Between the pipes
Jimmy Howard wasn’t spectacular, but he wasn’t awful either. His miscue playing the puck on the Bruins’ first goal is a play he’d like to redo, no doubt, but he didn’t get much help from the defense. Having to match the goalie who will likely win the Vezina Trophy is not the easiest job, but he did it in Game 1 and certainly has the potential to be that good.
Rask, our Game 2 MVP, was his usual, lights-out self, keeping Detroit to just one goal again. He made the initial save on Helm’s shot, but the aerial rebound bounced in off Glendening, so there wasn’t too much he could’ve done about it. Detroit needs to continue to pepper Rask, getting plenty of traffic in front of him in the process. If he can see the shots and a lot of them are coming from the outside, it’ll make life easy for him.
The opposition
The Bruins have done a tremendous job shutting down the Red Wings’ forwards, keeping them to one goal in each of the first two games. Boston clogged the neutral zone making it difficult for Detroit’s forwards to gain entry into the offensive zone. Also, the young guns that helped fuel Detroit down the stretch during the season have been non-factors so far because of the Bruins’ tight-checking aggressiveness. For that matter, the veteran forwards couldn’t do much either. Perhaps a shift to a familiar home venue in front of 20,000+ Red Wings faithful will spark some life into the offense.
The Bruins’ power play, especially with big Chara in front, is a handful for Detroit. And I can’t stress it enough – the Red Wings need to keep that power play off the ice going forward.
For the stats guys
Special teams made all the difference Sunday afternoon. The Bruins went 2-for-4 with the man-advantage and Detroit went 0-for-4. Those two Bruins goals – despite not being consecutive tallies – would ultimately be the difference since Detroit only managed to squeak the one goal by Rask. Boston capitalized, and Detroit did not.
Next up
Detroit heads back home to host the Bruins in its playoff home opener at Joe Louis Arena Tuesday evening having earned a split on the road against the NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy winner. In the big picture, that’s not too bad of a setup.