{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
Boston 3, Detroit 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Referees: Kevin Pollock, Garrett Rank
Linesmen: Lonnie Cameron, Vaughan Rody
Attendance: 19515

DETROIT -- The Boston Bruins finally made the plays they knew they could make.

Brad Marchand's goal 35 seconds into overtime gave Boston a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.

The Bruins trailed 2-1 with less than 90 seconds left.

"If you don't take care of pucks -- which we didn't do very well early on -- you're not going to get much," Marchand said. "They worked hard. They outbattled us early on. Luckily we were able to battle back."

Marchand was also a big part of the tying goal, which came with 1:26 left. He sent a pin-point, cross-ice pass to David Pastrnak, who one-timed the puck into the empty side of the Red Wings net and past Jimmy Howard to tie the game 2-2 with goalie Tuukka Rask pulled for the extra attacker. It was Pastrnak's team-leading 15th goal.

For the winner, Marchand scored on a backhander off a breakaway as he fought off the check of Red Wings defenseman Mike Green. It was Marchand's 12th goal.

Noel Acciari also scored for Boston, which won its third straight. Rask stopped 31 shots.

"In the end, we got it going eventually. There's a lot of pride in that room," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We knew we needed to be better. In fairness, Detroit hasn't won much lately, but their will to block shots and keep the puck out of their nets was tremendous. You've got to give them credit. "

Tomas Tatar and Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit, which has lost 10 of its last 11 (1-5-5). Howard made 29 saves.

It was the third game in a row that the Red Wings have played well but only have a loss to show for it. On Monday, they led Florida 1-0 in the third period, only to lose 2-1 in overtime.

"Same thing we talked about last game," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "... When you haven't done it, you might lose it (confidence) a little bit but we have to find it."

The Red Wings are 0-6 in overtime.

"Obviously it's hard to win when you have a minute to go and they come back again. I thought we played good again. We did a lot of right stuff," Tatar said. "We came up short. It's always hard to talk about it but we just can't get frustrated. You have to stay positive and find the good things on video what we did today and try to be better tomorrow."

Larkin's short-handed goal with 8:26 left in the third period gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. He took a pass from Darren Helm in the neutral zone, raced down the ice and put a backhand shot past Rask after a move. It was Larkin's fifth goal of the season. It came with Green in the penalty box for holding Pastrnak.

"It would be huge if we score another goal, get that two-goal difference," Tatar said. "We have to talk about what we did wrong at the end and eliminate it and be better by the end."

Acciari scored 3:02 into the third period to tie the game 1-1.

He put one in from just under the right circle off a goal-mouth scramble. It was Acciari's second goal. He came back from an upper-body injury, which caused him to miss the Bruins previous game.

Tatar's power-play goal 9:15 into the second period gave Detroit a 1-0 lead. His wrist shot from the left circle beat Rask low on the far side with Justin Abdelkader providing a net-front presence. It was Tatar's ninth goal and came 13 seconds after Boston's Patrice Bergeron went off for tripping Andreas Athanasiou.

Howard stopped Pastrnak on a breakaway with 9:28 left in the middle period.

The first period was scoreless. Detroit outshot Boston 9-2, but most of the shots were from the outside.

NOTE: It was the first of back-to-back games for Boston. The Bruins host the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. ... Detroit sent F Tyler Bertuzzi to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. ... Bruins D Kevan Miller missed the game because of the birth of his child. ... Red Wings assistant coach Doug Houda was formerly a Bruins assistant coach. ... Boston RW David Pastrnak played his 200th career game.
Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Detroit
Brad Marchand 2 Points Dylan Larkin 1
Brad Marchand 1 Goals Dylan Larkin 1
Torey Krug 2 Assists Trevor Daley 1
N/A Power Play Goals Tomas Tatar 1
N/A Short Handed Goals Dylan Larkin 1
Tuukka Rask .939 Save Percentage Jimmy Howard .906
Tuukka Rask 31 Saves Jimmy Howard 29
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Boston 32 3 0-3 2-3 6 33
Detroit 33 2 1-3 3-3 6 34
Upcoming Games
  • Detroit will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .263 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Washington. The Bruins have a W/L % of .429 after a win and .643 after a loss.