Detroit Red Wings regroup to force OT, win in shoot-out over Bruins
The first thing Henrik Zetterberg did after the Detroit Red Wings won again was apologize.
The Wings earned their first three-game winning streak since October when Frans Nielsen scored in the third round of the shoot-out Wednesday at Joe Louis Arena. That the Wings beat Atlantic Division rival Boston Bruins, 6-5, was a stunning conclusion to a game that saw the Wings trail 3-0 after 9 minutes and 4-1 after 20.
“I almost have to apologize for the first,” Zetterberg said. “I don’t even know what to call that after the two games we had coming in. But we found a way to battle ourselves back in this one.
“We knew if we started playing we still had a chance. We know that we have something in here, and if we do it right, we are playing well. Today, you saw both sides of us.”
Wings coach Jeff Blashill warned there better not be another period like that first one.
“When you are down 4-1 after the first, to come back is not easy in this league. So that says a lot about our guys. Now, our first was not good. We can't spot teams those kinds of periods. I think our guys know that.
“We can't see another one of those for a long, long time, like next year.”
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The victory came on the heels of defeating Montreal and Pittsburgh.
“We are finding ways to win,” Dylan Larkin said. “This stretch before the All-Star break is important so we can go in and feel good about ourselves and come back and make a hard push and get into the playoffs.”
Larkin, Xavier Ouellet and Andreas Athanasiou scored to climb within 4-3, and Tomas Tatar tied it on a breakaway. But the Bruins immediately retook a 5-4 lead going into the third period. Petr Mrazek, who replaced Jared Coreau in the first period, had to make several good saves to keep the score that close as the Bruins jumpstarted the period.
Nyquist used his seventh goal of the season to make it 5-5 with 4:03 to play in regulation, scoring by going to the net.
“I just tried to get my stick on the ice there and I was able to deflect it,” Nyquist said. “Not the start we wanted. We were real bad at the start. But we battled and managed to squeeze out a win.”
As part of the farewell to the Joe season, Grind Liners Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur came out for a ceremonial puck drop. By the time those paragons of grit made it to their seats, the Wings were already down a goal.
For a team with a bit of swagger, the Wings were undermined on the opening shift, with the Bruins running around Detroit’s zone and earning a goal after 44 seconds, when Frank Vatrano scored on his own rebound as Mike Green didn’t cover him.
It got worse when the Wings went on a power play. Green had the puck in his own zone but was outworked by Patrice Bergeron, leading to a shorthanded goal from Brandon Carlo when he sent a clean shot glove-side. That made the damage two goals 2:27 into the game.
Coreau’s third straight start ended before the period was halfway over. When Vatrano scored again during a Boston power play, that made it three goals on eight shots, and Mrazek took over.
“Let me be very clear, that had nothing to do with Jared’s play,” Blashill said. “I thought Jared made a huge save in that first 30 seconds. We weren't ready to play and they outcompeted us and as a result, we were down. So I just made the change.
“Petr came in and played excellent.”
Larkin said “it was unfortunate that Jared was on the wrong end of those goals. I wish we had better help in front of him.”
It took the Wings until the last third of the first period to respond. Larkin delivered his 12th goal of the season at 15:32 when he came down the middle and received a perfect pass from Tatar, scoring stick side on Tuukka Rask. The Bruins made it 4-1 in the last minute of the period – still the first – when Bergeron tipped Torey Krug’s shot.
Shots after one were 19-7 to Boston. The Wings held their previous opponent to 18 shots total.
A soul-searching first intermission led to a much better conclusion.
“If they score the three goals in such a short period of time, we can, too,” Tatar said. “We just have to start playing good hockey. We weren't winning any battles and they were just faster than us. That’s why they were up.”
Larkin said players “took a deep breath, regrouped. It took us a little bit to get into the game.”
Blashill pointed to the leadership on the team, saying, “the one guy that seemed to really pick himself up and say we are not doing this was Zetterberg. He was excellent even halfway through the first and guys fed off his leadership.”
Ouellet got the Wings back within two early in the second period. Tatar fired a pass that bounced off a Bruin, and Ouellet connected on a rising shot through traffic from the top of the left circle. A good shift by Frans Nielsen’s line got the Wings within a goal. Thomas Vanek had the puck headed behind the net when he whipped a pass behind him, straight to Athanasiou.
The assist extended Vanek’s point streak to seven games.
“I was mumbling to myself, give it to Nielsen, give it to Nielsen, give it to Nielsen,” Blashill said. “And he (Vanek) goes behind the back to AA for an empty-net goal. He’s got high-end ability. “
When Carlo fell along the boards trying to get to the puck, Tatar pounced, racing to the front of the net and slipping a backhand behind Rask.
“I saw their D-man fall and I saw I could have a breakaway,” Tatar said. “I got lucky when it went over the pad.”
The Bruins scored on their next shift, when Adam McQuaid fired a puck that deflected in off Jonathan Ericsson.
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Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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