Bruins rebound at Red Wings' expense, 5-2

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.

Red Wings-Bruins preview

BOSTON - Leading the Red Wings with 15 goals this season, Gustav Nyquist notched the game-winner in overtime on Saturday.

He will seek to help Detroit to their third straight victory when they visit the faltering Boston Bruins on Monday night.

Detroit picked up their last two after a 0-2-4 skid over their last six outings while Boston looks to rebound after being handed a 6-2 decision at Columbus on Saturday.

Nyquist has a goal and three assists for the Red Wings in his last two games, and his shot with 47 seconds left in the extra frame over the weekend gave Detroit the 3-2 victory at Ottawa.

He lingered in the Ottawa zone for nearly a half-minute and skated three times ominously around Sens net-minder Craig Anderson before firing from the slot for the win.

"The guys did a good job of creating some space for me," said Nyquist, who has a goal in each of his four career games against Boston. "It was nice to see it go in at the end."

Henrik Zetterberg, whose 27 points lead the team, has three goals in his last five games and four points in his last six. He has four goals and five assists in his last five meetings on Bruins ice. 

Detroit (19-8-9) fields the third-best power-play in hockey (24.3 pct) and the second-best penalty killers (88.4 pct). They are 8-1-1 in their last ten contests against Boston.

They have taken the last four in Boston, where, despite their shortcomings, the Bruins this season are 11-6-2.

Boston (18-15-3) won their last two at home, against Buffalo and Nashville. Tuukka Rask allowed three goals in both those games.

He replaced Niklas Svedberg at Columbus after the young Swede allowed three goals against 15 shots, though would himself replicate that feat as Boston left the buckeye state with six goals against them on 30 shots.

"It's hard to find words after a game like this," Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara said afterwards. "We started putting some [victories] together and climbing the standings, and now here we go again."

Rask is 2-5-1 against Detroit all-time with a 3.1 goals-against average, though turned away both shootout chances fired on him against the Wings in Boston's Oct. 15 victory.

That win was only the second against Detroit in ten chances and they are suffering a 4-6-2 stretch over their last 12 contests, allowing 3.1 goals per game.

"We have proven goals scorers on this team," center Chris Kelly said. "We have proven All-Stars on this team. It's not talent that's keeping us from succeeding. It's just a lot of the little things; winning your battles, playing attention to details on a consistent basis."

Both sides have split their season series thus far, both at Joe Louis Arena in October.

Bruins down Wild 3-2 in overtime

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Loui Erikkson tapped the game-winner in the overtime session to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 decision over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.

Carl Soderberg dished the assist after skating behind the Wild net, finding Erikkson waiting in front to Niklas Backstrom's unattended right side.

The strike, a minute-thirty into the extra time, ended the Bruins' three-game losing skid and their first victory after losing eight of their last ten outings.

"It's time we got a break," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "People who have watched us, I'm sure a lot of people said, 'Finally it's going our way.'"

A regulation victory looked imminent for Boston (16-13-3) until Jason Pominville's right skate would produce the 2-2 stalemate at 11:39 in the final period, redirecting a failed chance from Ryan Suter in traffic near the Bruins crease.

Boston until then held the 2-1 advantage despite being outshot 37-25. They would end the extra session on a 4-0 shooting spree.

Erikkson and Soderberg would team up on Boston's first goal. Soderberg's one-timer from the circle would fail to sneak past, but Erikkson would corral the rebound back to the defenseman who fired clean from between the circles.

But Kyle Brodziak would only need 27 seconds to respond for the Wild, firing a slapshot past Niklas Svedberg's right shoulder on a give from Brett Sutter.

Svedberg stopped 35-of-37 shots he faced in net for Boston, securing his first win since Dec. 2. He was under siege in the middle frame as the Wild outshot Boston 20-5, though the rookie Swede would keep the home side off the board in that time.

"He's been good," Julien said of his net-minder. "You want that from your backup goaltender. Your No. 1 is going to play most of the games, so when you need him, he needs to be ready to play, and he was tonight. I thought he made some good saves, he battled with a lot of traffic in front of the net, and again gave us that chance to win."

Patrice Bergeron gave Boston the 2-1 advantage into the first intermission, skating along the near boards over the blue line. 

He flicked a prayer that bounced halfway to the goal, sneaking through the space between Niklas Backstrom's right arm and midsection.

"It's nice to get those bounces," Bergeron said afterwards. "We'll definitely take the extra point."

"You definitely want to get back on that winning column and that second point was really important for us," he added. "We definitely talked about it, even before the third period, to find a way and battle. Even though we couldn't do it in the third, we found a way to that point. It's definitely a confidence boost for us."

Boston visits Winnipeg before hosting Buffalo and Nashville before Christmas.

Backstrom stuffed 22-of-25 shots in net for the Wild (16-13-1), who hold a 12-3-1 record against Boston all-time though kick off a four-game homestand in defeat.