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Frustrating: Detroit Red Wings 3 – Boston Bruins 5

Well that did not go as planned.

The Red Wings were coming off of a loss to the Calgary Flames, while the Bruins had just beat the Flyers. The Bruins showed their momentum, beating the Wings in a tough, high-scoring, and turnover-laden game.

The game was frustrating, mostly because the Wings overall did not play as poorly as the box score suggests, especially during the third period. But, the Wings made some crucial mistakes, and the Bruins capitalized on them. Stephen Weiss and Brendan Smith, in particular, were two of the Wings’ biggest turnover culprits today.

Here is how it all happened:

1st Period

Four minutes into the period, while on the powerplay, Marek Zidlicky tried to make a backwards pass to Stephen Weiss. The pass was a poor one, and it caught Weiss in an awkward position. He could not handle the puck and gave it up to a quick Brad Marchand. Marchand skated straight to Jonas Gustavsson, made a small deke, and gave the Bruins the 1-0 lead.

A few minutes later, order was restored. The Wings finally managed to develop a concrete attack, and after a couple of shot attempts from Riley Sheahan, the puck made its way to Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist took advantage of the opportunity, and shot the puck past Niklas Svedberg to tie the game up at one goal a piece.

The Bruins continued their pressure throughout the rest of the period. While on the powerplay, a Dougie Hamilton shot dinged off of the Wings’ goal post, and less than a minute later, David Pastrnak corrected his teammate’s mistake. Could Gustavsson potentially have stopped that shot? Maybe. He was heavily screened and the shot was on the money.

The period was a fast-paced, high intensity one, especially by the Bruins. Both teams had their fair share of chances, but the Wings were clearly out-played at some points during the period.

2nd Period

The Wings started the second period with a really good powerplay sequence. We kept up the pressure and had multiple scoring chances. The only thing missing was a goal, a theme that would continue throughout the rest of the game.

The Wings continued to play well, but then another Weiss turnover, and another short-handed goal happened. Daniel Paille managed to get the puck past Gustavsson, and all of a sudden, the Wings were down 3-1.

Just before the end of the period, the Bruins would bury the Wings. Off of the faceoff, the puck made its way to Paille who managed to score his second goal of the period.

What can I say, a promising start that led to a calamitous end.

3rd Period

The great Red Wings’ almost-comeback began with a goal from an improbable source. Luke Glendening, the newest member of the Red Wings’ top line, shot the puck past Svedberg to cut the Bruins lead by one.

A couple of minutes later, Joakim Andersson high-sticked Hamilton, giving the Bruins a powerplay. The Bruins quickly capitalized, with Loui Eriksson scoring off of a Jimmy Howard rebound. Howard had come in for Gustavsson during the intermission, with the latter probably being injured after Milan Lucic ran into him during the second period.

Moments later, the Wings would bring themselves back in within two of the Bruins. On the powerplay, Marek Zidlicky released a great shot, managing to get the puck past Svedberg for his second goal as a Red Wing.

The Wings would attempt to cut the Bruins lead again, but every attempt would be stopped by either Niklas Svedberg or the skate of a Bruins’ player. The comeback would not happen, and the Wings would lose the game.

No Bueno

The biggest shame about today’s game is that there were moments where the Wings looked really promising. We dominated the end of the third period, and there was a lot to like about this team. But, for every one of those moments, there were two where we looked out-of-sorts. Turnovers, poor passes, missed opportunities, questionable goaltending, you name it. At the end of the day, there is nothing to do but carry on, there is still a lot of season left.

On another note, I did not mind having Luke Glendening on the top line. He is obviously not going to provide the same skill that a Tomas Jurco or Teemu Pulkkinen would provide, but he does work hard, and does the gritty work that the other players cannot do.

At least we no longer have to hear about how the Wings had yet to lose back-to-back games in regulation.

Next up for the Red Wings are the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night.

Let’s Go Red Wings!

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