Red Wings top Bruins 6-3 on the strength of four third-period goals
Mar 31, 2019; Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings right wing Anthony Mantha is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the first period against the Boston Bruins at Little Caesars Arena. (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)
From the NHL Newswire at 985TheSportsHub.com.
The Detroit Red Wings scored four unanswered goals in the third period to battle back from a 3-2 deficit and beat the Boston Bruins by a final score of 6-3 on Sunday night at Little Caesar’s Arena.
It was a uniquely back-and-forth affair in Detroit. The Wings owned the scoreboard in the first period, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on the strength of two goals by Anthony Mantha. The second goal came with just one second left in the period, after the Wings’ Tyler Bertuzzi fished the puck out of a scrum in the corner and fed it to Niklas Kronwall, who slipped it to an open Mantha for the one-timer that beat Jaroslav Halak.
The Bruins controlled the scoreboard in the second period, storming back to take a 3-2 lead. First Jake DeBrusk buried his 25th of the season on a give-and-go with David Krejci that allowed him to streak past the Detroit defense to the net untouched. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron then did their usual business on a penalty kill, as Marchand caught a fluttering puck then set up a nifty 2-on-1 with Bergeron. No. 37 dangled around a sprawled Mantha and fed it cross-ice to Marchand for the one-timer goal.
It was Marchand’s 26th career shorthanded goal, giving him sole possession of the Bruins’ all-time franchise lead in that category. David Backes followed that up with his seventh goal with just one minute left in the period, tipping a Kevan Miller wrist shot past Jimmy Howard.
In the third period, however, the scoreboard was all Detroit. Mantha completed the hat trick just 1:17 into the frame on a power play. Then, in the most egregious misstep of the night for the Bruins, they allowed the go-ahead goal just eight seconds later as Justin Athanasiou zoomed through the whole team then fed an open Taro Hirose in the slot. The rookie buried his first career NHL goal to put the Red Wings on top, and they’d never look back. Filip Hronek scored later in the third to put the Wings up two then Dylan Larkin iced it with an empty-netter.
Up Next: The Bruins (47-23-9) still have a six-point lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs with three games to go. They’ll look to get back on a positive track before the playoffs against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
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