National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Boston 5, Detroit 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, December 29, 2014
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Referees: Ian Walsh, Marc Joannette
Linesmen: Steve Barton, Matt MacPherson
Attendance: 17565

Bruins 5, Red Wings 2: Carl Soderberg scored one goal and set up two others to lift host Boston past Detroit.

Reilly Smith and Gregory Campbell scored during a three-goal first period and rookie Seth Griffith added a power-play tally as the Bruins rebounded from a 6-2 drubbing in Columbus to post their third straight home win. Chris Kelly recorded an empty-net goal and an assist, Loui Eriksson set up two tallies and Tuukka Rask made 28 saves to improve to 3-5-1 versus the Red Wings.

Justin Abdelkader and Tomas Tatar tallied for Detroit, which tumbled to its seventh loss in nine games (2-3-4). Jimmy Howard turned aside 40 of Boston's season-high 45 shots.

The Red Wings opened the scoring 2:44 into the contest on Smith's shot through a screen from the right point before Abdelkader tied it by sweeping a no-look backhander of a partially blocked shot past a surprised Rask with 8:39 left in the first period. Campbell cleaned up a rebound in front at 16:12 and Soderberg converted a feed by Eriksson from behind the net 73 seconds later for a 3-1 advantage.

Detroit's red-hot power play cut the deficit to 3-2 with 4:50 left in the middle session, converting when Tatar sent a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past a screened Rask. The Bruins restored the two-goal lead with a power-play tally of their own at 5:11 of the third as David Krejci set up Griffith, who fired a wrister from the left circle into the far corner of the net.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Griffith halted a 10-game goal-scoring drought for the Bruins, who registered 19 shots in the opening 20 minutes - their highest total for any period this season. ... Detroit, which extended its power-play goal streak to four games, had a disallowed tally upheld by video review with 62 seconds left in the first period as it was ruled that Tatar's stick was above the crossbar on a deflection. ... The Bruins, who were without C Patrice Bergeron and LW Milan Lucic after each suffered undisclosed injuries in Saturday's loss to Columbus, recalled C Matthew Lindblad from Providence of the American Hockey League after RW Matt Fraser was claimed off waivers by Edmonton.
Top Game Performances
 
Detroit   Boston
Justin Abdelkader 1 Points Carl Soderberg 3
Justin Abdelkader 1 Goals Carl Soderberg 1
Pavel Datsyuk 1 Assists Carl Soderberg 2
Tomas Tatar 1 Power Play Goals Seth Griffith 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jimmy Howard .909 Save Percentage Tuukka Rask .933
Jimmy Howard 40 Saves Tuukka Rask 28
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Detroit 30 2 1-4 0-1 2 40
Boston 45 5 1-1 3-4 8 24
Upcoming Games
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Bruins have a W/L % of .444 after a win and .579 after a loss.
  • Detroit will play their next game at home against New Jersey. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .529 after a loss.