How’s that for a clutch win?

1st period

The game started a little slow, but about halfway through the period the B’s got a power play, and Tyler Johnson threw a shot at Talbot that deflected off Justin Brazeau, who scored the first goal to make it 1-0 for the Bruins!

Unfortunately, the Wings recovered. They spent much of the remainder of the game trying to maintain control of the puck, and as the court ran out, The Red Wings executed an almost picture-perfect passing game to tie the game at 1-1 with Lucas Raymond’s laser shot.

I don’t know if this play will get off the ground if Marchand manages to kill Tarasenko, but other than that it’s just a really good play.

Continue to 2.

2nd period

There was no significant scoring, but the Bruins had a much better shooting period from the start, producing 11 shots on goal, while Detroit had 7.

Regardless, let’s move on to the 3rd.

3rd period

This is where the Bruins really came to life with their biggest push of the game; Talbot hammered punch after punch until the Bruins finally managed to get past the Wings’ goaltender David Pastrnak held a puck in the zone and Andrew Peeke was able to push the puck to Brad Marchand, who gave Talbot a 2-1 lead!

The Bruins held their ground and came out of this game with a 2-1 win!

Game notes

• Their TOI leader was Charlie McAvoy, who logged 26:16 tonight.
• In this game, it was the special teams that made the difference: Once again, the Bruins had some penalty issues, but a major improvement over the Monty regime is that they made sure the Red Wings didn’t get any of them at all get it. They held the Wings 0-4 and were able to score a Wings power play goal at the crucial moment. Considering how poorly both of those things have gone for Boston lately, this is the kind of improvement they can hopefully build on.
• Swayman had an absolutely exceptional evening in a real goalkeeping duel; He finished the night with a .950 SV% and saved the B’s bacon on more than one occasion. Considering how tough his season started, it’s good to see him making such a recovery. We’ll see how he does on the track, but this is a big improvement for him!
• I think the general opinion of this game, as well as the general opinion of the fan base, is that this is a good start. While they are winning more and their 5-on-5 defense appears to be improved, the B’s are still struggling to actually convert their chances and a number of players are still having real trouble being effective. Plus, they’re playing a number of fairly mediocre teams over the next week or so, so there’s little evidence that the Bruins will be seriously tested beyond what they see in Vancouver this Tuesday. Considering how out of contention they looked at the start of coach Sacco’s tenure, I think the Bruins could stand to take some steps in the right direction and games against these weaker opponents are a great way to do that to reach.
• One day the Red Wings will actually try to be good again without cramming in a bunch of bad ideas. Thank God we don’t live in these days. This Yzer plan needs serious revision.

The Bruins come home to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, and in that game the puck drops at 7:00 p.m. PT.

See you there!