Bruins notch big win over Red Wings, 4-2

The Boston Bruins have not clinched anything yet and they still have a long, hard road to go to earn a playoff berth.

But in their biggest game of the year to date, the B’s came up with their biggest win in Motown on Saturday night. In the furious battle for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, the B’s erased two one-goal deficits and scored three third period goals to beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2, at the Little Caesars Arena.

The B’s got goals from four different players and the winner off the stick of an unlikely candidate, Nikita Zadorov. They also got a big goal from Elias Lindholm and two third period primary assists for Morgan Geekie. But the star of the night was, again, Jeremy Swayman. The netminder made 41 saves on the night, including 21 in the third period.

The B’s jumped two points ahead of the Wings for the first wild card and four ahead of the New York Islanders, still on the outside of the bracket after losing in Montreal.

The third period was electric.

Detroit broke a 1-1 tie at 4:06 of the third. From several feet above the left circle, Alex DeBrincat snapped a hard shot that went through Mark Kastelic’s legs and beat Swayman over the glove. That would be the last thing to beat the Alaskan.

But then the B’s got a big play from two of their most dormant top players to tie the game at 6:22. After Mason Lohrei kept a puck in at the right point, Geekie found a wide-open Lindholm with a long cross-ice pass. From the bottom of the left circle, Lindholm scored with a shot along the ice and under John Gibson’s pads. It was Lindholm’s 13th of the year and first point of any kind in eight games.

Then at 9:42, the B’s took their first lead of the game on a soft goal. Again, Geekie found the open man with a long pass and this time it was Zadorov. With a Detroit defender in front of him, Zadorov let a wrist shot go that beat Gibson to the short side for the big defenseman’s second goal of the year. That held up as the GWG but not without some hairy moments.

Swayman, who had made several big saves on a Detroit power play sandwiched between the two Bruin goals, made another one on Emmitt Finnie after a long period of Red Wing pressure. With his skaters in front of him all gassed, Finnie was stoned from eight feet in front.

The B’s had a great chance to take a two-goal lead with 6:08 left in regulation when Lukas Reichel was hooked by Patrick Kane on a breakaway and granted a penalty shot. But Gibson kicked out Reichel’s freebie attempt.

Gibson kept Detroit in the game with two great saves on the subsequent shift on Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson to keep it a one-goal game.

But the B’s finally got the two-goal bulge when Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy combined to win a faceoff and David Pastrnak fed Marat Khusnutdinov for the empty-netter.

This one had a playoff feel right from the start. The first period was scoreless but both teams had good chances.

The B’s gave up the first early chance when McAvoy’s shot was blocked, leading to a 2-on-1 on which DeBrincat clanged the post behind.

But it was the Bruins who had the better of the early chances. On the first power play of the game, Lindhom beat Gibson between the pads but it hit the post behind him and the netminder was able to fall on it.

The Red Wings got back in the game later in the period, aided by the B’s, who took two offensive zone penalties, first a trip by Kastelic and then a hook from Casey Mittelstadt (the second one was a bit ticky-tack).

The B’s killed off the first one with ease and, in fact, they had the best scoring chance when Fraser Minten made a good shorthanded rush and forced Gibson to make a great sprawling save.

But the Wings pressured on the second PP at the end of the period and were an inch, perhaps a half inch, away from taking the first lead. With time running out in the period, J.T. Compher whacked at a puck that popped past Swayman into the net. The Wings celebrated as the clock read 0.00. Though it was called a good goal on the ice, it was reviewed, which showed the puck had not yet crossed the line before time expired.

But the B’s tempted fate one too many times early in the second period and Detroit cashed in after Hampus Lindholm high-sticked Finnie going for an aerial puck in front of the B’s net. On the advantage, Andrew Copp made a great pass through the low slot for Lucas Raymond, who had a wide open net for the 1-0 lead at 3:30.

But then it was the Wings’ turn to take penalties and they took two within seven seconds of each other. First, David Perron hooked Pastrnak and, after Detroit won the initial faceoff, Mo Seider shot the puck out of the rink. That gave the B’s a 5-on-3 for 1:53 but they would not need that long to tie it up.

Just 24 seconds after Seider took a seat, Pastrnak took a McAvoy feed blasted a one-timer past Gibson at 5:04 for his 27th of the year and first PP goal in 22 games.

The B’s still had plenty of time on the second penalty but they couldn’t do anything with the 5-on-4.

After surviving the second kill, Detroit gradually took control of the play and pinned the B’s ears back for a while. Swayman came up with two huge stops on Finnie, one from the slot and the other from the bottom of the right circle.

The Wings held a 22-20 shot advantage through two periods but it was even going into the third at 1-1.

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