With nearly a month left until the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins came up big on Wednesday night to edge out the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden with a 6-1 final score. The Bruins currently find themselves in third place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 35-26.
Since the Bruins relieved former head coach Claude Julien at the beginning of February, their record without him is 9-3 under interim head coach Bruce Cassidy.
Center David Krejci opened up the scoring for the B’s firing a shot past the glove of Detroit goalie Jared Coreau at 11:07 in the first period.
Nearly a minute later Bruins left-winger Brad Marchand pushed a goal in left side of the net to make the game 2-0. Marchand scored two goals on the night to bring his goal count this season to 32. He currently leads him team in goals with 32, and ties defenseman Torey Krug for recording 38 assists each, which gives Marchand 70 points.
“I think [Marchand’s] kind of looked at in the main group of guys that we have here as leaders,” said Bruins defenseman Colin Miller to Bruins.com. “There’s so many of those guys that don’t really wear a letter that are also just quiet leaders in their own – maybe March isn’t so quiet – but he really is [a leader]. Can’t say enough about him. He’s been great.”
As another minute and a half of play went by, Boston’s new right winger Drew Stafford tipped the puck in for a 3-0 score. Stafford was traded to the B’s from the Winnipeg Jets last Wednesday in return for a 2017 conditional sixth round draft pick.
“It’s been a circus,” said Stafford to ESPN last week. “Calling the family and making sure everything’s okay back home, packing up out of Winnipeg. There’s a lot of moving parts. But I’m excited to be here, excited to get going. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to help the team win.”
After giving up three goals in nearly two and a half minutes, Coreau was pulled and replaced with Petr Mrázek.
To end the first period Krecji picked off Detroit center Dylan Larkin’s attempt to clear the puck and fired a shot to record his second goal on the night. The Bruins entered the locker room with their heads high and 4-0 lead.
The game had some 4-on-4 action in the second period after Detroit defenseman Nick Jensen was called for tripping and Boston center Frank Vatrano for embellishment.
At 16:55 in the second period Marchand grabbed a pass from C. Miller and tossed it between Mrázek’s legs. Marchand not only leads his team in stats, but has scored seven goals in his last seven games.
Boston goalie Tuukka Rask lost his chance at a shutout in the second period when defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored his first goal of the season and the Wings first of the night.
Thirty seconds into the third right winger David Pastrnak turned and fired a missile past Mrázek that would leave the final score at 6-1. This marked the Red Wings fourth straight loss as they are currently in last place in the Eastern Conference.
Rask got his 31st win of the season and finished the game with a total of 26 saves.
With a 35-26-6 record as of Friday night, the Bruins are currently four points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs and four points behind the Ottawa Senators in the Atlantic Division.
Boston’s next game is a Saturday matinee game versus the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 1:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcasted on NESN.
