Bruins crush Red Wings 6-1
BOSTON -- The Bruins took care of business early and cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night, Boston's ninth win in 12 games under interim coach Bruce Cassidy.
David Krejci, Brad Marchand and Drew Stafford scored in a 2:25 span of the first period to chase goaltender Jared Coreau. Krejci capped a four-goal first period and Marchand scored again in the second for the Bruins.
Boston moved four points ahead of the idle Toronto Maple Leafs for the third spot in the Atlantic Division and three points ahead of the idle New York Islanders in the race for the second wild card. The Leafs and Islanders have two games in hand on the Bruins.
Krejci had his first two-goal game of the season and added an assist for his first three-point game of the campaign while Marchand notched his 31st and 32nd goals of the season, and 13th and 14th in the last 16 games.
Stafford scored his first goal as a Bruin and also had an assist, David Pastrnak had a goal in the third period and an assist and Zdeno Chara notched two assists in front of Tuukka Rask.
Rask stopped 26 shots for his 31st win of the season and had a shutout until Niklas Kronwall scored his first 2016-17 goal with 2:25 left in the second period.
The Red Wings, in last place in the Eastern Conference, suffered their fourth straight loss and fell to 4-7-2 in their last 13 games as they fade from playoff contention.
The Bruins,who matched their season high for goals in a game, are 10-1-1 in their last 12 games against Detroit, going 3-0-1 this season.
Bruins winger Tim Schaller left the game with a lower-body injury after falling skates first into the end boards.
The Red Wings held a 6-2 shots advantage before the Bruins struck. First, Krejci went around Danny DeKeyser to score at 11:07, with Stafford collecting an assist. Then Pastrnak lobbed the puck into the Detroit zone and Marchand slipped between two defensemen to score at 12:08.
Pastrnak then carried the puck into the slot and lost it before Stafford picked it up and beat Coreau on the glove side to end the goalie's night at 13:32 of his first start since Feb. 12.
Enter Petr Mrazek, who had been resting after eight straight starts. In the final minute of the period, Dylan Larkin coughed the puck up in front of his net and Krejci picked it up and scored, his first two-goal game since April 1.
Mrazek and Rask made big saves before Marchand scored on a breakaway to make it 5-0. But 40 second later, Kronwall one-timed his first of the season from the right point.
NOTES: The Red Wings recalled G Jimmy Howard from his minor league rehab and he will join the team for Friday's home game against the Chicago Blackhawks. ... With C Ryan Spooner out indefinitely with a concussion suffered Monday night, the Bruins recalled RW Austin Czarnik and put RW Jimmy Hayes back in the lineup, with LW Peter Cehlarik a healthy scratch and RW Drew Stafford taking his place on the team's second line. ... G Petr Mrazek went 3-4-1 playing the previous eight games for Detroit. ... The Bruins host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and head west on a four-game road trip that actually ends in Toronto. ... Wednesday was Irish Heritage Night at TD Garden.