Bruins 5, Red Wings 3
Fourth-liner Daniel Paille recorded his first two-goal performance in over three years as host Boston improved to 4-0-1 in its last five games.
Paille converted with his team short-handed for his first tally of the afternoon and Brad Marchand did as well for his fifth in four contests. Rookie David Pastrnak and Loui Eriksson each added a power-play goal and Niklas Svedberg finished with 36 saves for the Bruins, who moved four points ahead of idle Florida for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Defenseman Marek Zidlicky scored during a power play while Gustav Nyquist and Luke Glendening also tallied for Detroit, which has suffered back-to-back losses in regulation for the first time this season. Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Tatar each notched two assists while Jimmy Howard made six saves in relief of Jonas Gustavsson, who yielded four goals on 23 shots.
Stephen Weiss was stripped of the puck while trying to gain the offensive zone, allowing Paille to skate in on a partial breakaway and beat Gustavsson at 11:44 of the second period to give Boston a 3-1 lead. Paille wasn't done, as he chipped the puck over Gustavsson's glove with 1:21 remaining in the session to record his first two-goal effort since Dec. 14, 2011.
Glendening's wrist shot from the right faceoff circle sailed between the pads of Svedberg 84 seconds into the third to trim Boston's lead, but Eriksson answered by cleaning up a rebound less than three minutes later. Zidlicky's wrist shot from the point beat Svedberg inside the right post at 6:02 to bring the Red Wings within two, but that was as close as they would come.
GAME NOTEBOOK: After scoring twice in Saturday's 3-2 overtime victory over Philadelphia, Marchand took advantage of Weiss' inability to settle a loose puck before beating Gustavsson at 4:15 of the first period for his team-leading 22nd goal. ... The Bruins have scored the first goal in eight consecutive contests. ... The Red Wings yielded two short-handed goals in a game for the first time since Jan. 24, 2004 against the then-Phoenix Coyotes.