Detroit Red Wings show fight but fall to NHL-best Bruins, 3-2, in Boston

BOSTON — The Detroit Red Wings showed fight but the Boston Bruins showed might.

The Wings, their playoff dreams all but eliminated, built a quick lead Saturday at TD Garden, but the Boston Bruins, their playoff hopes secure, scored three straight goals to claim a 3-2 victory.

Playing on national TV, the Wings showed they aren't going to be doormats, even as they lost four teammates at the trade deadline, one of whom — Tyler Bertuzzi — was in the Bruins' lineup. Andrew Copp and Alex Chiasson scored in the first period, and Magnus Hellberg played as big as his 6-foot-6 frame to counter a relentless attack by the Bruins in the second period.

"Second period burned us," coach Derek Lalonde said. "We had a really good first. But the penalties, our four penalties happened in the first 30-35 minutes and it’s just too much on our group. It’s unfortunate because we had a really good opportunity.

"The most encouraging thing for me was our third. They showed why they are the team they are, they pushed in the second. They found a way in the end. But at 2-2, the play of our third, I’m guessing we out-chanced them. But that is why they are the team they are. When they needed it, they got the push."

Hellberg gave up a goal to Garnet Hathaway with 6:06 to play in the third period, as the Bruins zeroed in on their 50th victory of the season. Final shots favored the Bruins, 38-31.

"It’s pretty disappointing," Copp said. "We played good for really good stretches and then some mental lapses that shouldn’t happen. On any given night, anybody can win, and our consistency is something we haven’t found fully this year and we came up short here."

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While the Wings project to miss the playoffs for the seventh straight year, the Bruins are pushing to break the 62-victory mark for one season set by the 1995-96 Wings and tied by the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.

"There are phases where we have to elevate our game and if we do that (Sunday), it will be an interesting game," defenseman Moritz Seider said.

The teams meet again Sunday at Little Caesars Arena.

What a start

The Wings hardly could have scripted a much better start on the road against the best team in hockey. Being forced to kill a penalty one minute in to Moritz Seider presented a challenge, yes, but then Copp intercepted David Krejci's attempted pass, carried the puck into Boston's zone and ripped a shot from the top of the right past Linus Ullmark at 1:36. That quieted the crowd. The Wings followed up with a goal on their other special teams unit, with Chiasson finishing a pass from David Perron during a power play to make it 2-0. That was all before the five-minute mark. Hellberg had maybe his best period of hockey in a Wings uniform, turning away 11 shots, of which at least half were solid scoring opportunities.

"Hellberg, he has been good for us," Lalonde said. "But I think there is a little pattern here with him tiring a little bit in the second half of a game. That’s something he can improve on personally, but he’s been excellent. He got us that lead."

How momentum swung

Hellberg continued a stellar performance into the second period, as the Bruins exerted their dominance. They ran up an 11-0 edge in shots before Seider got the Wings' first on net, midway through the period. It wasn't until the 26th shot on net that the Bruins broke through, with Hampus Lindholm scoring at 12:43. The Wings appeared to come right back and answer with a goal, but officials called an interference penalty on Dylan Larkin, negating the play. The Bruins scored during their fourth power play, with Patrice Bergeron picking up his 24th goal and the momentum swinging soundly to the Bruins.

"Tough swing there," Larkin said. "They call a penalty late, and not the ref that was close, it’s called on the back side. It goes in the net and then they score on the penalty kill. That’s a tough swing but we responded well and had a good third period. I thought it was a good effort because we battled a lot."

Lalonde said that it was "the right call. It’s just unfortunate — (Brad) Marchand did the same exact thing, tomahawked a stick out of the hand, they don’t call it."

That was Copp's view: "I got my stick slashed out of my hands on the PK and they didn’t call it," he said. "It’s just the way it goes."

Black, gold and bruising

The Bruins wasted no time playing up their trade-deadline acquisition of Bertuzzi (for which the Wings got a top-10 protected 2024 pick and a fourth-round pick in 2025). He was featured on a poster giveaway for Saturday's game, a bold, gold B emblazoned on his chest.

Bertuzzi was greeted heartily by fans when he was introduced as part of the opening lineup. He wasted little time re-establishing contact with his former teammates: During a Bruins power play early in the game, goaltender Magnus Hellberg shoved Bertuzzi, who was hovering around the net; Bertuzzi retaliated by shoving defenseman Olli Määttä.

"I was very aware and watching him," Larkin said of Bertuzzi. "It was really weird, but I noticed him a lot."

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

Next up: Bruins

Matchup: Red Wings (29-27-9) at Boston (50-9-5).

Faceoff: 1:30 p.m. Sunday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

TV/radio: TNT; WXYT-FM (97.1).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings outpaced by Bruins, 3-2, in Tyler Bertuzzi reunion