Red Wings-Bruins: Detroit's Late Heroics Too Much for Boston

Detroit came back from a one-goal deficit in the second period to beat the Bruins 3-1 last night in Boston.

The win was their 40th of the season and extended their unbeaten streak to seven games.

If the first period had been any indication, the Red Wings were headed for a long night.

They came out flat and looked very much like a team that had played a hard-fought game 24 hours before. They were fortunate to have Chris Osgood in net making saves that kept them in it while the Bruins carried the attack. Although the teams finished 10-9 Boston in shots, the Wings seemed to be noticeably outplayed through the majority of the early period.

They began the second period looking better, but it wasn't until after they killed off a lengthy 5-on-3 that they really seemed to wake up. With two of the team's top penalty killers, Nick Lidstrom and Andreas Lilja, in the box, the Wings managed to stave off a determined Bruins team and the resulting boost gave them the jump they needed to tie things up.

Despite the fact that they elevated their play following the big kill, it took the Wings until 15:04 of the second to get on the board. That was largely due to the strong play of Tim Thomas, who was only cracked by a lightning-fast play off a draw from Pavel Datsyuk to Henrik Zetterberg.

Pavel Datsyuk made it 2-1 Detroit after knocking in the rebound of a Zetterberg shot at 1:53 of the third period. The goal snapped a nine-game goalless streak for the Red Wing forward.

Brian Rafalski added to the Wings lead with a blast at 14:02, just eight seconds after the start of a power play. Tomas Holmstrom provided the screen out front.

Chris Osgood finished with 22 saves and improved to 22-3-2 on the season.

Andreas Lilja played a strong game despite an ill-advised holding penalty early in the second.

Tomas Holmstrom looked especially physical and ornery, as he dealt out some big hits throughout the game.

An encouraging win for the Wings, who, despite playing the night before, seemed to get stronger as the game went on rather than the reverse. They rebounded from a slow start and found a way to win, which is a good sign as they head down the stretch to the playoffs.

They will face the Wild in Minnesota on Tuesday.

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