The teams played a game as tight as they are in the standings, the battle for every puck a demonstration of how much the points on the line meant.
Facing their second straight game against an Atlantic Division opponent, the Detroit Red Wings played the Boston Bruins on national television. Jeremy Swayman (41 saves) stole the show for much of the third period as he withstood wave after wave of attack at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, March 21.
That left the Wings with a 4-2 loss and in the second wild card at 38-24-8, with 84 points and 12 games remaining. The Bruins reached 86 points, and also have 12 games left.
Detroit Red Wings playoff picture
By the time the Wings started their game (8:15 p.m.), several others of importance to where they are in the standings were either already done or well underway. The Columbus Blue Jackets won to reach 85 points with 13 games remaining (as they climbed into third in the Metropolitan Division). The Philadelphia Flyers (who the Wings face three times down the stretch) won to reach 80 points with 13 games remaining. The Montreal Canadiens – defeated by the Wings in regulation Thursday – won, reaching 86 points (13 games left). Their victory came against the New York Islanders, which kept them at 83 points (12 games left). The Ottawa Senators also won, reaching 81 points (13 games left).
Next up for the Wings
The Wings’ visits from their Atlantic rivals continue with a stop-in from the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit). The Senators won Saturday to climb within three points of the Wings, though they’d still have to hop over the Islanders to reach a wild-card spot.
Third period thriller
Alex DeBrincat, fresh off two straight three-point performances, gave the Wings the lead four minutes into the third period when he took a pass from Moritz Seider and fired a shot that hit the crossbar on its way in. That was DeBrincat’s 35th goal of the season, and his 16th point the last 11 games.
Elias Lindholm made it 2-2 two minutes later when he fired a shot that slid beneath John Gibson. Nikita Zadorov gave the Bruins their first lead of the game midway through the period when he was given time and space to move up the left flank and used Simon Edvinsson as a screen to make it 3-2. Gibson denied Lukas Reichel on a penalty shot with around six minutes to play.
Marat Khusnutdinov scored into an empty net with 1:52 to play about 40 seconds after the Wings pulled Gibson for an extra attacker. The Wings pulled Gibson again immediately afterwards.
A post and a tilt
DeBrincat had a great chance on an two-on-one with J.T. Compher a minute and a half into the game only for the puck to ricochet off the post. After that, the Wings had a hard time gaining Boston’s zone and when they did, play quickly went the other way, with the Bruins racking up shots against Gibson. A high-sticking penalty by Mason Appleton didn’t help, with Gibson needing to make three saves during those two minutes. Less than eight minutes remained when the Wings finally forced a save from Swayman when Dominik Shine fired a wrist from the left circle. Compher tried with a backhand shot just outside the crease seconds later.
Tick Tock O’Clock
The Wings had consecutive power plays late in the first period. Patrick Kane and Andrew Copp were denied by Swayman, while Gibson had to turn away a shorthanded attempt by Fraser MInten. On the second power play, the Wings were stymied by the clock. DeBrincat fired a shot that was blocked. Compher was there at the net and managed to flip the puck into the net, but replays showed the puck was millimeters outside the goal line when the clock showed time had expired.
Special stretch
The Wings made good on their third power play, when Andrew Copp took a pass from Kane and found Lucas Raymond on the other side of the crease for a go-ahead goal 3:35 into the second period. But the lead was shortlived. At 4:35, David Perron was penalized for interference and at 4:43, Seider sent the puck over the glass, earning a delay of game penalty and giving the Bruins 1:53 with two extra skaters. They needed just 24 seconds to convert, with David Pastrnak one-timing the puck from the left circle to even the game at 5:07.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings stumble in 3p in 4-2 loss to Boston Bruins