Wings Postgame: Wings Maul Bruins
5 years ago
It was not a pretty win, but the Wings were able to come out on top in this tilted matchup. Red Wings win 4-2 against division rival Boston Bruins.
The shots went in the Bruins’ favor by a metric of 32-26, but the Red Wings were able to pounce on the high-danger chances and not let up throughout some tough stretches.
With goals from Bertuzzi, Nielsen, Larkin, and Nyquist adding an empty-netter, the Wings were able to hand defeat to the Bruins.
Worth Mentioning
- The first period was fairly dull and some low-event hockey – neither team really getting some solid chances, but still piling on the shots.
- Larkin had one shorthanded chance in the first five minutes of the game, cutting off a cross-ice pass from the Bruins powerplay and getting a solid odd-man rush with Glendening. Rask was able to make a save.
- In the dying minutes of the first period, David Backes was able to pounce on a weird opportunity and score an unassisted goal for the Bruins. A weird one, but the Bruins lead the Wings 1-0 at the first intermission.
- Early in the second period, Tyler Bertuzzi was able to net a goal on a deflection from the point. Mike Green shot the shot, it bounced off the blade of Rasmussen’s stick and back off Bertuzzi’s. A flukey goal to tie up this game.
- Within the second period, Dennis Cholowski earned his second minor penalty of the game. Rare for him to take a penalty at all, he’s now at 10 PIMs on the season.
- We got a line brawl that almost included a goalie fight!
- Toward the end of the period, Larkin was able to get a powerplay goal that put them ahead 2-1 after 40 minutes.
- Just minutes into the third period the Bruins were able to tie up the game. Ryan Donato with the goal.
- Set up beautifully by David Pastrnak, Donato was able to get into the slow and fire a wrister past Howard’s short side.
- In the middle of the third period, the Wings fight back and Frans Nielsen was able to score his first goal of the season to give Detroit the lead. Tipping a DeKeyser shot from the point and Athanasiou was able to grab the second assist.
- The Bruins go with the extra skater but Nyquist was able to score the empty-net goal to put this game to bed. Wings win 4-2.
Final Thoughts
It was a very typical Wings game this season, especially during their hot streak. Eventually losing the shot battle and shot attempts battle, but getting more of the solid scoring chances that should really go in. Per evolving-hockey.com, the Wings came out on top in expected goals, getting 54% of the share. That is pretty evident when you see this heatmap from naturalstattrick.com.
The Wings got a solid amount of their attempts from that “home plate” area in front of the net, while the Bruins certainly got a lot of looks directly in front of the net, they did not add up to enough expected goals to overcome the Wings.
Justin Abdelkader had probably his best game of the season, being competent on the ice and not an offensive and defensive blackhole. He was able to get an assist.
Rasmussen continues to impress as he cements his spot in the top-9 forwards – getting an assist this game as well. Those two forwards certainly did well enough to be highlighted, but it was Gustav Nyquist’s three-point night that deserves some recognition.
Nyquist now has 24 points in 27 games on the season, definitely going to be a hot commodity in a couple months around the deadline. Considering what players like Rick Nash were able to be traded for, the Wings might be getting their own little fortune for a point-per-game rental winger.
The Wings return tomorrow against historic rival Colorado Avalanche at home. Puck drop is at 7:00pm ET.
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