Rapid Reaction: Red Wings Defend Their Way Past Bruins for 2–1 Win

DETROIT—The Red Wings took care of business Saturday night in Detroit, grinding their way to a 2–1 victory over the visiting Boston Bruins.  Forward Lucas Raymond—who scored what would prove the game-winner in the form of a power play one-timer less than a minute into the second period summated the game neatly in saying, "A lot of effort, maybe not the prettiest, but it's about getting it done, and we did that tonight with a lot of help from [Cam Talbot]."  Talbot made 20 saves on 21 shots to help Detroit secure the victory.

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With the win, the Red Wings clawed their way to within one point of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference (albeit with an extra game played).  However, the schedule down the stretch will be a bear.  With nine games left, Detroit has just three more games on home ice, and Saturday night's game against the Bruins is the last time it will face a team not currently holding a playoff spot.

With just 43 combined shots on net between the two teams, Saturday's game hardly qualifiers as a thriller, but it did get off to a high octane start courtesy of two early bouts.

First, Detroit's Alex DeBrincat took exception to a hit from behind courtesy of Boston's Andrew Peeke.  DeBrincat caught up to Peeke and insisted that the Bruins D-man (listed at six-foot-three, compared to his own five-foot-eight) drop the gloves.  To the delight of the Little Caesars Arena crowd, DeBrincat landed a few punches, then wrestled Peeke to the ice, despite the size discrepancy.

Not quite a minute later, Austin Watson dropped the gloves with Boston's Jakub Lauko.  While DeBrincat has dabbled in the rough stuff throughout his time in Detroit and NHL career, that discipline is Watson's specialty, and he showed why in his pummeling of Lauko.

"It was awesome," said Raymond after the game.  "I've seen Cat chuck 'em a couple times now, and he's got some fire in home, so obviously huge.  It fires us up, gets the crowd into it right away, and Watty stepping up as well is awesome to see.  I think that just goes to show how much guys care and how committed guys are to this."

The two fights sent LCA into an early frenzy and not long after, Marco Kasper got the Red Wings into the lead, intercepting a pass, rushing in, then beating Jeremy Swayman with a wrist shot.  Detroit would hold that lead for the remaining 54:23 of the night.

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Coach Todd McLellan likes to say the modern NHL game is a race to three.  On Saturday, the game didn't make it that far, thanks to a much stingier defensive effort from his team than it mustered two days prior against the Ottawa Senators, starting from the net out.

"I would go to the crease to start with, the confidence that Talbs gave the rest of the group," McLellan said, when asked for the keys to his group's defensive success.  "He wasn't bombarded, but when he had to make a real good save like the one at the end, he made it, so that made everybody feel good, and then I think the players in front of him were a lot more responsible going south than they were the other night...Some of that's structural, some of that's work, some of that's reading, and our team was much better in that area.  It was a team win."

Talbot best save of the night was clearly the one McLellan alluded to: robbing B's forward Casey Middlestadt with his glove as the clock ticked under 10 seconds to play on a backdoor play.

When asked to describe the sequence, Talbot said, "Just pinballing around, I was just trying to stay calm, stay patient, give myself both my edges, and no matter where it bounced, I was just gonna try to throw whatever I could in front of it and just kinda reached around a big crowd, found it last second, and was able to just eat it.  Obviously feels good to make that stop, but...we locked it down for the last probably 30 minutes there and didn't give up a ton...so give our guys a ton of credit for the way we played."

To that point, Detroit conceded just four shots in the third period, even with Boston chasing the game for the duration of the frame.  The caliber of opponent will only ratchet up for the Red Wings down the stretch, but if they can keep closing the way they did Saturday, they'll put themselves in a position to win more often than not.

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