Bruins' playoffs hopes live on with 5-2 win over Red Wings
BOSTON (AP) — Torey Krug had a goal and two assists, Brad Marchand and Loui Eriksson each added a goal and assist, and the Boston Bruins kept their playoff hopes alive with a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.
Tuukka Rask had 13 saves for the Bruins, who also got goals from David Pastrnak and Lee Stempniak.
Alexey Marchenko and Andreas Athanasiou scored for Detroit, and Jimmy Howard had 21 saves for the Red Wings, who had a three-game win streak snapped.
Boston (42-30-9) picked up a much-needed two points after entering the night two behind the Red Wings for third in the Atlantic Division. Both teams are tied with 93 points.
The Red Wings (41-29-11) were scrambling most of the night, with Boston holding a 34-15 shot advantage.
With only its regular-season finale against Ottawa remaining on the schedule, Boston fans chanted, "We Want Playoffs!" during the third period.
Boston put the game away in the first minute of the third period, getting a slap-shot goal by Stempniak 20 seconds in, followed by Eriksson's tip-in 25 seconds later to give it the four-goal cushion.
The Bruins took a 3-0 lead on a slap-shot power-play goal from the top of the faceoff circle by Krug early in the second period — his first goal since Dec. 5.
A little over a minute later, Detroit got on the board when Marchenko muscled in a wrist shot. Athanasiou scored with 1:23 left to cap the scoring.
Boston was energized at the outside and was much quicker on the draw, scoring two goals in the first three minutes of the game.
For the first, Pastrnak took a pass off the board from Colin Miller, and broke ahead of Detroit's Mike Green. One-on-one with Howard, Pastrnak faked right, crossed in front of him and flipped the puck into the back of the net for his 37th goal of the season.
The play was challenged by Detroit coach Jeff Blashill for a possible offside, but it was ruled legal after a brief review.
Boston needed about another minute to get its second goal of the night. This time, Krug used great vision in finding Marchand with a pass across the slot. Marchand gathered it and shot a dart past Howard on his glove side.
Both teams had a pair of power plays in the first, but neither produced a goal.
Each goalie had big stops while their teams were short-handed. Patrice Bergeron got the puck to Marchand on a 2-on-1 chance, but Howard was able to save it with his pad. Later, Rask came up with a big glove save on a chance by Detroit's Jonathan Ericsson.
NOTES: Marchand's 37 goals are the most by a Boston player since Glen Murray scored 44 in 2002-03. ... Marchenko's goal snapped a 12-game scoreless stretch and was his first point since an assist on Feb. 23 vs. Columbus. ... Bruins F Max Talbot, recalled from Providence Wednesday on an emergency basis, played in place of an injured Jimmy Hayes. Hayes is scoreless in his last 16 games played.
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This story has been corrected to show final score was 5-2, not 5-1.