Talking Points: Boston Bruins Falter In Face Of Red Wings Surge

DETROIT, MI – Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar’s Arena on Tuesday night.

GOLD STAR: The Red Wings most definitely won the goaltending battle on Tuesday night. While for the Bruins it was a combination of poor defense and some leaky goaltending from Jeremy Swayman, Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 47-of-50 shots in holding back the Boston Bruins on a night they were missing their top goal-scorer in David Pastrnak. Many of the saves weren’t five star highlight reel stops, but the young Red Wings netminder seemed to continuously be in the right spot and stopped everything in front of him. He made it possible for the Wings to come back in the game by stopping 31-of-32 shots in the final two periods of the game. He also made a hell of a pass to set up the empty net goal that iced the game late in the third period.

What a pass by Nedeljkovic to assist the empty net goal by Gagner! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/9Gi1P4LmCQ

— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) April 6, 2022

BLACK EYE: Just days after he stated that he thought of himself as an “everyday guy” in the lineup after a series of healthy scratches, Mike Reilly had a really bad night in a competitive third pairing situation that’s playing out for the Black and Gold. He wasn’t alone as Derek Forbort wasn’t much better either, and the both of them really struggled in the second period when the Red Wings took control of the game. The worst sequence was the game-tying goal when Reilly failed a couple of times to clear the puck out of the D-zone and then lost a flailing battle with Michael Rasmussen for a loose puck right in front of the net. The fact they were on ice for the go-ahead goal against just a few shifts later made things go from bad to terrible for both defensemen with Connor Clifton and Josh Brown waiting in the wings.

TURNING POINT: The Boston Bruins had the game well in hand, cruising with a 2-0 lead and they got to the latter stages of a penalty kill that was going to see them get out of the first period unscathed. But then a few lost battles and players not stopping on the puck turned into Dylan Larkin rocketing a puck in from the faceoff circle that looked like it deflected off Brandon Carlo’s stick on it’s way to the back of the net. It was another instance of the Bruins allowing a goal in the final minute of a period, and it gave Detroit a whole lot of life that helped them seize control of the game in the middle 20 minutes. After that it was all downhill for the Black and Gold.

HONORABLE MENTION: Patrice Bergeron continues to put an honest effort into each and every game no matter what is going on around him. Bergeron finished with a goal and two points, eight shots on net and 14-of-25 faceoff wins in 19:25 of ice time. It was Bergeron that scored a late goal in the third period to at least push it back to a one-goal game and create a competitive situation where the Red Wings had to get an empty netter to ice the game. For a Boston Bruins team that looked less than their best playing the second of back-to-back games on the road, Patrice Bergeron brought the energy and effort at the top of the Black and Gold lineup.

BY THE NUMBERS: 3 – the team-leading number of blocked shots for Hampus Lindholm, who incidentally had to exit Tuesday’s loss in the second period with a lower body injury.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “It’s a problem.” –Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy on the B’s penchant for giving up goals in the final minute of the period.