BOSTON - The slumping Boston Bruins took advantage of a three-goal first period before adding two more in the third to down the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Monday night.
Five different skaters propelled the Bruins to the winning side of the ledger, entering the first intermission with a 3-1 advantage from which they would hardly look back.
And in the process end Atlantic Division rival Detroit's two-game winning habit.
"They're in our division," Carl Soderberg said, picking up three points off a goal and two assists. "We have to win these games."
Boston's Rielly Smith lit the lamp at 2:44 in the first with a blast from the blue line that landed over Jimmy Howard's left shoulder. Dougie Hamilton took the assist, lingering along the near boards before handing Smith the pass that would float through traffic to open scoring.
"That was a great example of how we need to play for pretty much the rest of the season," Boston captain Zdeno Chara said. "It's pretty simple. We had the right attitude and right approach right from the first drop of the puck."
Justin Abdelkader produced the 1-1 stalemate at 11:21, shooting a clean backhander as he fell to the ice through a twelve-inch space between Tuukka Rask's left leg and the post. Rask stuffed 28-of-30 for Boston on the night otherwise.
But the Bruins are 12-6-2 at home this season, seeking to prove the fact as they notched two goals in a 1:13 span to close the first frame.
Gregory Campbell recorded his 4th goal this season as the recipient of a lucky pass and deflection from Torey Krug, who flung a one-timer that squirted out of a heavy scrum in the crease.
His chance clinked off the right post into the path of Campbell from six inches out, who tapped the leading goal past Howard's left foot at 16:12.
Carl Soderberg took an assist on that shot, and soon after would record a goal of his own, firing from close range to the left side of the Wings net off a pass from Loui Erikkson behind the net.
"That's what I wanted to see from our team," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said afterwards. "It's the kind of game that we need."
Boston's skates cooled in the middle section, allowing the Red Wings back within a goal courtesy of Tomas Tatar, who cashed in on Detroit's third-best power-play.
Chris Kelly tripped Detroit's leading scorer Gustav Nyquist forty seconds earlier, setting up Tatar's 15th strike this season, off an assist from Danny DeKeyser.
But Kelly would add the empty-netter with three minutes left to clinch the win for the home side, who are 3-3-0 in their last six outings.
"I think everyone was focused on going over the boards and doing their job for the 40 or 50 seconds they were on the ice," Kelly said of the Bruins' effort. "It was wave after wave. Every line contributed and played really well."
Boston (19-15-3) was without points-leader Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic for undisclosed reasons.
The Bruins enjoyed four power-play chances, and in the third period Seth Griffith would skate past Detroit's second-best penalty killing unit to regain the two-goal advantage.
David Krejci took possession in the left circle deep in the Wings zone, skating backwards along the boards before slipping what became an assist through two Detroit defenders to Griffith, who flung a wrister from the circle past Howard's right arm.
"They threw in a lot of pucks and created chances off that," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We tried to do that, too, but we've got to have the puck. We didn't win a lot of faceoffs in the first period and it's tough to start without the puck."
Jimmy Howard stopped 40-of-45 shots in net for Detroit (19-9-9) as the Bruins record their season-high in shots.
"We've been walking that fine line here for a little bit," Howard said of the Wings' recent losing ways. "We have to find a way to start on time. There have been too many times this year where we wait until the second period to get going."
Detroit hosts New Jersey before embarking on a six-game road trip, and Boston will treat Toronto to a New Year's Eve meeting at the Garden.
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