The sequel went better: The day after coming up short, the Detroit Red Wings hung on till the end.
They played the Boston Bruins for the second time in two days Sunday, taking the action to Little Caesars Arena in another nationally televised game. The Wings edged out the best team in the NHL, 5-3, the day after the Bruins became the first team to clinch a spot in the 2023 playoffs.
The Wings, who saw a two-goal lead dissipate into a 3-2 loss Saturday, built a lead again Sunday, and kept growing it. Alex Chiasson, Moritz Seider, Dylan Larkin and Adam Erne made it 4-0 before the Bruins got one by Ville Husso. Jake DeBrusk scored on a breakaway early in the third period. Larkin had a breakaway immediately after but hit a post; instead, David Pastrnak cut the Wings’ lead to one goal with 13:36 to play. Husso made nine saves the final five minutes to help protect the lead, and Andrew Copp secured the Wings’ 30th victory with an empty-net goal.
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Former Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi, traded to the Bruins at the deadline, received a warm welcome from fans when he was celebrated with a video during a first-period timeout.
Similar first
The first period bore similarities to Saturday’s. Killing off an early penalty to Seider? Check. On Sunday, it was for high-sticking Patrice Bergeron at 8:18. Convert on a power play? Check, courtesy of Chiasson, to make it 1-0 at 12:22. Outshoot the Bruins? Check, albeit Sunday’s 8-4 margin wasn’t as impressive as Saturday’s 15-10 edge. But it was another good start for the Wings, who did a good job in their own zone limiting chances against Ville Husso and carried play in the Bruins’ zone.
Better second
Derek Lalonde said the Wings were burned by Saturday’s second period, when the Bruins flipped a two-goal deficit. There was no charring Sunday: Seider scored a shorthanded goal early in the second period, and that fed the momentum the Wings had in the first period. When former Wings forward Tomas Nosek (lost in the Vegas expansion draft) was in the box…