BRUINS LIVE: Red Wings at Boston

Just an editor's note that since I did this live, it wasn't proofread. Please excuse any errors and I'll remove this message once it's all good.

Howard has been one of the NHL's best goalies. (Getty)

Today, the Boston Bruins host the Detroit Red Wings in a nationally televised day game on NBC.  It should be a great game between two quality teams that rekindles the nostalgia of the Original-6.

The Bruins enter the game on a 10-game winning streak.  They are also the defending Cup champion, which is somewhat of a role reversal between these historic rivals.  Boston started off the year in terrible fashion, but has finally recovered and gotten back to playing the tough, blue-collar hockey that won them the Cup last year.  They enter the game at 13-7-0 and are tied in first in the Northeast Division with Toronto.  The B's also lead the league (by an amazing 12) with a +27 goal differential.

Detroit's been streaky this season.  They started 5-0, then went 0-5-1, then won four, lost two and won three.  At 12-7-1, they trail Chicago by just two points in the Central Division and their +12 goal differential, second best in the Western Conference.

Expect to see a relatively clean game with some good hits, but mainly good skating and hard work.  Both these teams are good and you don't get good by being lazy or making stupid decisions.

Starting Goaltenders

Detroit - Jimmy Howard (12-7-1, 1.92 GAA, 0.927 SV%)
Boston - Tuukka Rask (3-3-0, 2.32 GAA, 0.919 SV%)

1st Period

The two teams started setting the table for the game with a good back and forth.  There weren't any golden scoring chances, with the exception of Detroit's Valtteri Filppula going in on a breakaway at about 4:10.  However, he roofed his chance over the goal and the teams were back what looked like a Sunday game of tennis, volleying back and forth.

At 8:46, the Red Wings Jonathan Ericsson was called for interference.  Detroit opened the penalty kill with a good amount of pressure and the Bruins didn't get comfortable until late in the man-advantage.  They almost cashed in late when Nathan Horton picked up a Zdeno Chara on the side of the crease.  But, Wings goalie Jimmy Howard laid out his glove to stop the puck and keep the game scoreless.

Boston used the late surge power play surge to garner a few more chances.  But, it was Detroit that would score first.  After Boston's Johnny Boychuk threw a dangerous shot at the net, the Red Wings countered on a odd-man rush.  Filppula had a nice give and go with Henrik Zetterberg.  Filppula tipped the return pass into the goal at the top of the crease.

It was Detroit's first shot in eight and half minutes and gained back the momentum Boston seemed to have been taking.  B's Head Coach Claude Julien spoke with NBC in an in-game interview.  "They're a team that's pretty skilled," he said of the goal.  "Any time you give them a 3-on-2, they'll take advantage of it."

The stereotypically speedy Red Wings got in a rhythm after that and seemed to have a step on the Bruins during the second half of the period.  Jiri Hudler took a hook for Detroit at 17:34, but an aggressive PK kept Boston from setting up too much.

The Bruins still closed out with a noticeable 13-6 advantage in shots.  They definitely skated with a Red Wings team they usually haven't kept up with, but the Red Wings took advantage of their chance and locked down Boston close to their own net.  The B's will need to get some better looks at Howard to win the game.

2nd Period

The second frame started out with a flurry.  Detroit's Jimmy Howard tried to play the puck behind the net, but it was intercepted in the corner by Nathan Horton, who passed it in front to Daniel Paille.  Paille slid it under Howard, who was diving back to the front to tie the game at 4:05.

Datsyuk showed Boston why he's an elite player. (Getty)

The glory was short lived for Boston.  On the following shift, defenseman Johnny Boychuk took a big check from Pavel Datsyuk in the offensive corner.  Detroit countered while he was still out of position and it was that Datsyuk ended up attacking the net alone from the faceoff dot after a dish from Todd Bertuzzi.  David Krejci tried to slow Datsyuk as Boychuk was still struggling to get back in position, but Datsyuk's hands were too good as he walked right into the front of the goal to stuff one past Tuukka Rask.

Despite the goal, Boston continued to hold its own against the quick Wings.  Detroit Head Coach Mike Babcock talked to NBC about the need to slow Boston's tenacity in the offensive zone.  "They're really aggressive on the forecheck," he said.  "We've got to get back faster and execute better in our own end."

Coming out of the second TV timeout of the period, there were a flurry of penalties.  Boston's Rich Peverley was called for a slash at 11:38.  For lack of a better description, he essentially sack-tapped Jonathan Ericsson from behind, bringing out some saracasm from the NBC broadcast team.

Tomas Holmstrom wiped that out with an interference penalty at 12:21.  Dennis Seidenberg, who had drawn that call, set up Nathan Horton nicely moments later, but Horton couldn't get good wood on the puck as it slid across the slot and his shot flopped wide.

However, he who giveth taketh away and Seidenberg's stick snapped on an ensuing slap shot, which led to Detroit going the other way.  David Krejci tried to slow down Brad Stuart, but got too much stick on his gloves and was whistled for a hook.

Detroit's potent power play dominated once the first two penalties wiped out and nearly scored late.  Holmstrom took it from the goal line to the front of the net, where Rask stuffed it.  In the ensuing scrum, the puck popped out to Valtteri Filppula but his shot over the pad stack of Rask appeared to hit a skate and sailed over the crossbar from close range.

The 2-1 score held the rest of the period and Detroit went to the locker room having outshot Boston 12-10 in the closely contested period.  This game can still easily go either way, but Boston has still struggled to get Howard out of his element.  The only goal came on a careless play of his behind the net and they haven't found a way to crack him otherwise.

Boston is 2-5-0 this season, when trailing after the second period.  They'll need some resiliency against a strong Detroit team.

3rd Period

Boston's Dennis Seidenberg had a great chance at about 3:30.  Jimmy Howard had his back turned and Seidenberg, crashing the net, managed to chip to puck.  It would have found the upper part of the net but grazed Howard's back and crept harmlessly over the goal post.  However, as was the case in the second period, the defenseman's great chance somehow translated into a penalty on the Detroit breakout.

Seidenberg stepped up for a hit on Cory Emmerton in the neutral zone.  In an awkward angle, he caught the Red Wings' forward from the side.  Emmerton went down and Seidenberg went to the box for kneeing at 3:38.  Detroit dominated the power play, but couldn't crack Tuukka Rask and Boston defense.

The Bruins got even not long after.  Henrik Zetterberg made a rare mistake when he turned the puck over in his own end after Niklas Kronwall had given him a breakout pass in front of their own net.  Patrice Bergeron picked up Zetterberg's mishandled puck at the face off dot and fired a quick wrister under Howard's arm for the the typing goal.

Thorton provided the B's with a familiar spark. (Getty)

Boston's fourth line got some great play from Shawn Thornton and company shortly after to get the Boston crowd buzzing.  The B's generated several chances from the high-energy line but couldn't find the net behind Howard.  They headed into the middle TV timeout of the period with all the momentum, but didn't have a lead to show for it.

Detroit matched the Bruins tempo coming out of the break.  Daniel Cleary rang a post on the far side of Rask at about 12:15.  In a sign of the momentum of the period, it was just the Red Wings second scoring chance of the period, according to NBC's broadcast.  However, it symbolized that Detroit wasn't going to lay down and the teams played up-tempo (and scoreles) through to the game's final TV timeout.

The Bruins came out with some fire to try to win the game in regulation.  The linesmen decided to have a say in Boston's dominance when they inexplicably waved off an icing with about two and half minutes left, and Detroit was able to get their edge back.  Pavel Datsyuk missed a great chance in the mid-slot shortly after and Zdeno Chara knocked his helmet off in the corner seconds later, but the teams kept fighting until the final buzzer.  Even without his helmet, Datsyuk could be seen challenging the much taller Chara with a body check.

Boston controlled the pace of the period, scoring the only goal and winning the shot battle 18-10.


Overtime

What a great overtime!  There's a reason why these are two of the most talented teams in the league and that was on full display in the extra session.  Each team had a few good chances.  Henrik Zetterberg was double-teamed in the corner when he picked up the put out of the tie up and fed Todd Bertuzzi for a great shot that went wide.

The Bruins had there best chances late.  Dennis Seidenberg picked off an errant toss up the boards and attacked at speed for a shot.  Gregory Campbell won a clean faceoff with 11 seconds left to Zdeno Chara, who had a great rip but it went wide and time expired.  Boston finished the overtime with two shots to Detroit's one.

It was an all-around fantastic game to watch.  Anyone that thinks a shootout is exciting doesn't know how to watch hockey well enough.  It's too bad neither of these teams could have won in team fashion.  Heck!  It was even enough that a tie might have been a fitting, even if not satisfying finish.

Shootout

Tyler Seguin of Boston attacked with speed and fired on the forehand but Jimmy Howard got a piece with the glove to redirect it over the crossbar.

Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit delayed with a backhand fake and quickly pulled it back and shot on the forehand for the goal.

Rich Peverley came in a little slow to his forehand looked for a shot, pulled it to the middle of the ice and shot into Howard's pads.

Jiri Hudler went straight at the goal and deked to the backhand but Tuukka Rask gloved it.

Nathan Horton took a similar straight on approach and roofed a shot for the goal on Howard.

Todd Bertuzzi went in well to his backhand side, opened up for the backhand and pulled it back to the forehand for the game-winning shootout goal.


Recap

It was too bad Boston lost, but it was a great game to watch.  The two teams looks like kin of the same mother.  Detroit is known for its skating, Boston is known for its physicality, but both teams work hard and rarely take stupid penalties.

That was seen today.  Most of the penalties that were taken were simply a result of the opponent working hard.  There was a lot of skating and, contrary to Boston's recent game against Columbus (when neither team managed 30 shots in regulation), shots and chances were abundant.  Boston finished with 43 shots (41 regulation) and Detroit with 31 (30 regulation).

Both goalies played very well and Jimmy Howard was the man of the match in net for Detroit.  His 41 saves stood up for the Detroit win and kept a pesky and persistent Boston team from taking control, despite dominant first and third periods.

On the Boston side, Dennis Seidenberg was very impressive for Boston.  He seemed to be a force on both sides of the puck and had some bad luck that led to his penalty and David Krejci's penalty (Krejci took a hook on a Detroit odd-man rush after Seidenberg snapped his stick).

The Bruins ten-game winning streak came to an end with the shootout loss, but they rightfully earned a point today.  As I said, this one might have been better suited finishing in a tie (if the NHL still did those), so that would have been a single point for Boston as well.

For the first time this season, Boston will face a back-to-back when the newly returned Winnipeg Jets come to town at 7:00 p.m. ET tomorrow.  The Jets are a mediocre 8-9-4 and are 26th in goals against at 3.24.  It will be a good opportunity for Boston to restart the offense after Howard shut it off today.

Detroit now paces Chicago in the Central Division.  The two are tied with 27 points, but the Wings have a game in hand (the Blackhawks play Anaheim later tonight).  They'll head home where they take on Nashville Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. ET, as well.