The Bruins have been borderline unbeatable this year.

So much so that when Matt Grzelcyk put the Bruins on the board and made it a three-goal deficit after 40 minutes, your mind began to think maybe, just maybe they could pull this one off. And, man, did they come close.

Jake DeBrusk brought the Bruins within two early in the third period, and David Pastrnak brought the Bruins within one, and with 13 minutes to play. The Bruins also got a pair of big-time stops from Jeremy Swayman in the third period to keep the game within a single shot, and their push on Ville Husso was downright immense.

But time ran out on the Bruins despite an 8-2 shot advantage in between Pastrnak’s goal and Andrew Copp’s game-sealing empty net goal, and the B’s were served a (probably necessary) reminder that they can’t be a one-period team.

Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars of the game from an eight-goal game in Detroit…

• No. 3 Star: Charlie McAvoy

  

  Feb 28, 2023; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) skates with the puck against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. (Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports)

• Not gonna lie, I was downright shocked to see that Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy didn’t end up on the scoresheet in this game. Because he was all over the ice in this one.

  Deployed for a team-high 22:43 of time on ice, McAvoy finished this game with a team-leading 14 shot attempts. That was double the next-closest Bruin (David Pastrnak, with seven), and McAvoy also paced the Black and Gold with 11 individual scoring chances. Just an absolutely insane level of pace pushing in the attacking zone.

  With numbers like that, it’s no surprise that the Bruins dominated the puck with No. 73 out there during five-on-five play, as McAvoy had an on-ice corsi-for percentage of 79.49 percent thanks to an on-ice attempt edge of 31-8. The Bruins also outshot the Red Wings by a 14-4 mark with McAvoy on the ice during his five-on-five deployment, and outscored Detroit 3-0 over that sample. For some additional context there, the Bruins were outshot 15-11 and outscored 1-0 with McAvoy not on the ice at five-on-five play.

  Just a monster night, even without a point.

• No. 2 Star: Moritz Seider

  

  Mar 12, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) scores a goal as Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) defends during the second period at Little Caesars Arena. (Tim Fuller/USA TODAY Sports)

• On the Detroit backend, it was a more than solid day for 2022 Calder Trophy winner Moritz Seider.

  Out there for 22:47 of action, Seider put himself on the board with an unassisted shorthanded goal following a strip of Pastrnak at the Detroit blue line that sparked a breakaway on Swayman, and came through with the secondary assist on the Dylan Larkin power-play goal that made it 3-0. Seider also chipped in with one hit and four blocked shots, but it was the shorthanded marker that really felt like a deflater for the B’s in that moment.

• GO MO GO! 💨
  
  Moritz Seider's shorthanded effort extends the lead for the @DetroitRedWings! 🐙
  
  📺: @NHL_On_TNT ➡️ https://t.co/LaJpv7c3yx #NHLonTNT pic.twitter.com/W1F3vKJ54l

  — NHL (@NHL) March 12, 2023

• To put the rarity of that (at least on Boston netminders) into context, Seider is the second defenseman to score a shorthanded goal against the Bruins this season, and just the ninth since 2005, according to my research.

  1. Moritz Seider (Detroit, Mar. 12, 2023)
  2. Shayne Gostisbehere (Arizona, Oct. 15, 2022)
  3. Mark Giordano (Seattle, Feb. 24, 2022)
  4. Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay, Mar. 7, 2020)
  5. Jack Johnson (Pittsburgh, Jan. 19, 2020)
  6. Trevor Daley (Dallas, Feb. 10, 2015)
  7. Chris Tanev (Vancouver, Dec. 14, 2013)
  8. Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia, Dec. 14, 2009)
  9. Sheldon Souray (Montreal, Feb. 4, 2006)

• No. 1 Star: Dylan Larkin

  

  Mar 12, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) brings the puck up ice against Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) during the first period at Little Caesars Arena. (Tim Fuller/USA TODAY Sports)

• It’s probably no secret that Saturday left a bad taste in the mouth of Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin.

  The Bruins had made it a one-goal game when Larkin appeared to come through with the perfect response goal on the Bruins’ Linus Ullmark. But the goal was quickly wiped off the board as it was determined that Larkin committed an interference penalty en route to the goal. Larkin was then in the box serving his penalty when Patrice Bergeron tied things up, and well, we all know how that one ended.

  In other words, Larkin was certainly juiced for this game, and delivered in a big way, with a team-leading three points in Detroit’s payback victory at Little Caesars Arena.

• What a rip from Dylan Larkin 🎯 pic.twitter.com/at1fT0ER9p

  — Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 12, 2023

• Larkin’s three-point outing was much more than an empty-calorie performance, too.

  He had the primary helper on the Alex Chiasson goal that opened things up for the Wings, he helped push the lead to three with his second-period power-play snipe, and Larkin had the secondary assist on the Copp empty-net goal that secured the bag (two points in the standings) for Detroit in what was a survival final moments.

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