Red Wings “found a way to get going in the third” and beat Bruins
By Stefan Kubus –
DETROIT – While handing the NHL’s No. 1 team its first regulation loss in 17 games was a solid feat for the playoff-hopeful Red Wings, the team’s bench boss was none too pleased by the effort that propelled them there.
Jimmy Howard turned away 33 shots, and Gustav Nyquist extended his point streak to eight games and goal streak to three games, potting the game-winner with impressive style, as Detroit trumped Boston at Joe Louis Arena Wednesday night by a 3-2 final. Tomas Jurco and Tomas Tatar also scored for Detroit in the victory.
“We haven’t watched the other team play in a while, stood around and watched, and that was surprising to me, but it’s a good lesson for us,” Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said. “We can play with anyone. We don’t have to watch the other team; we can actually just get out there and play.
“I didn’t think we were good at anything, but we found a way to get going in the third and win a game.”
The final tally had Detroit outshot, 35-20, but in the dying minutes of the second period, the shots were 25-9 in favor of Boston, a glimpse of the solid all-around game Boston brought to the table.
“I thought they were good, they were ready to play,” Babcock said. “They beat us to all the pucks. It didn’t look like we wanted the puck.”
One definitive bright spot in the game was the goaltending of Howard, who was called upon all night long and stood tall to the challenge.
“It’s a good confidence booster not only for myself, but I think everyone,” Howard said. “They’re one of the best teams in the league.”
Babcock also gave credit to the team’s redemptive resolve after a disappointing 40 minutes.
“We had a lot of players tonight, especially forwards, that weren’t very good for us, and yet what they did is in the third, found a way to get going a little bit,” Babcock said. “Guys that maybe wouldn’t have had great games scored big goals for us, so that’s a positive thing.”
Late in the first period, Livonia native and former Michigan State defenseman Torey Krug fired a missile from the point that beat Howard on the power play, but was immediately waved off due to Bruins captain Zdeno Chara being in the crease. Unfortunately for Boston, it seemed that Chara was barely in the crease, and it appeared he did not truly prevent Howard from stopping the puck.
Sure enough, the hockey gods took care of the Bruins as a Johnny Boychuk bomb from the point officially made it 1-0 late in the opening period just shortly after.
On a power play early in the second period, Tatar’s wrister from the right circle beat Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask high on the far side just as a Boston minor penalty expired to knot the game at one aside. It didn’t go down as a power play marker, but given Patrice Bergeron had just stepped out of the box, it might as well have been.
The Bruins clearly outplayed Detroit through 40 minutes and looked determined to build off that momentum early in the final period, as Carl Soderberg found the back of the net 1:10 into the third period on the power play.