Bruins 2, Red Wings 3 OT (SO): B's Take One Point Despite Loss To Detroit

By all accounts, this had the grounds of being a heartbreaking loss. 10-game win streak ended via a 3-2 shootout loss on the cusp of game two of a back-to-back weekend.

But as the media braced for the disappointment speech, instead what came out was much different. 

"I don’t know guys, you’re pretty critical for a game I thought we played pretty well," head coach Claude Julien said. "Maybe you guys have to do like us and look at the tape."

For the first time in November, the Bruins came out with just one point, but knew the streak had to end at some point, and were pleased that it ended the way it did--against a very skilled team that they measured up well against.

The Bruins are now 0-3-1 against Detroit since 2008, but unlike the other blowouts, this one was different and left the team feeling good about what they didn't despite the loss.

The game was one for the record books. First, two original six teams playing against each other is always entertaining, but this one had the feel of a playoff game. The crowd was into it, the players were into it, and it blew the top off any of the previous afternoon games the Bruins managed to squeeze out.

"For whatever reason, I think it had a little bit of a playoff atmosphere," Bruins forward Shawn Thornton said. "Before the game, Soupy [Gregory Campbell] said on the bench actually it kind of felt that way. Obviously they’re a good team, they have been for a lot of years, and we’re coming off a pretty good season, so it was a pretty fun game to play in on both sides. Everyone seemed to be up for it."

After 65 minutes of entertaining and talented hockey, the game had to have a winner, and so the shootout began. Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley were both denied by Howard and Red Wings star Pavel Dutsyuk netted one against Tuukka Rask, while Rask stuffed Jiri Hudler on the second shot. Bruins forward Nathan Horton managed to give Bruins hope going into Detroit's final shooter. Unfortunately for them, it was Todd Bertuzzi, and he wristed one through to give Motown their first shootout victory of the year.

"Yeah the first three guys [in the shootout]…pretty good guys," Rask said. "They’ve got some talented [players] behind that too. So do we. Today we got a chance to move to extra rounds and that happened and they won. Different from last week when we went to shootout when I played. As I told you, it’s awesome when you win and sucks when you lose."

That was kind of the attitude in the whole locker room. There were no hung heads or grim faces. They were just looking forward to taking a well-played game and using that energy for tomorrow where they will play Winnipeg in their first back-to-back games this season.

Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron netted the goals in regulation--Bergeron's coming midway through the third period, and slamming it past Jimmy Howard for his fifth goal of the season. Daniel Paille's goal was in the second period, finding the hole past Howard four minutes into the second frame.

Both of those goals were tying goals in the game. The Bruins never had the lead, but still managed to take one point away to reassure their efforts.

"We took a point tonight," Thornton said with a laugh when asked what the Bruins can take from the 10-game win streak. "Things are going well, and like I said, we still played well tonight, so hopefully we can continue to bring that tomorrow and get another win tomorrow. Honestly, we got a point tonight, that’s points in eleven straight games. That’s pretty good as far as I’m concerned."

Julien agreed, but said though their game was good tonight, it has to be that much better tomorrow against the Jets.

"For us, we got a point out of this game and you move on and tomorrow is an important tilt again against a team in our conference," Julien said. "You really have to turn the page. Hopefully our guys didn’t get too high on that that it deflates them. I liked our game tonight and think it’s important that we carry that into tomorrow."

Bruins Vs. Red Wings: Lead Cut Short For B's, Detroit Up 2-1

The Bruins tried to get some momentum going in the second period, and it seems appropriate that their one goal of the game so far came from components of the "energy line."

Just 4:05 in the second and the Bruins found themselves back in the game with a goal from Daniel Paille. Nathan Horton picked off the puck from Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard as he tried to clear it from behind the net. Horton passed to Paille who was out front, brought Howard down and slipped it through to tie up the game 1-1.

However, just 35 seconds later, the next shift in, Pavel Datsyuk scored his fourth goal in five games and sixth of the season to put the Red Wings back on top. Todd Bertuzzi added the helper to that goal and that was the last time the Bruins held the lead.

Once again the Bruins had some opportunities in the period and are still outshooting Detroit 23-20.

Penalties plagued both teams this period, and at one point they were playing 4-on-3 with two hooking calls and a slashing penalty.

The Bruins are 2-5-0 this season when trailing after the second period. Detroit on the otherhand is 9-0-1 when leading after two frames.

Bruins Vs. Red Wings: Detroit Blanking B's 1-0 After First Period

The Bruins are notorious for poor play in the first period of an afternoon game. However, today was a bit of an exception. Despite being down 1-0 after 20 minutes, the Bruins had a lot going for them, and still more that needs work. They outshot the Red Wings 13-6 in the first frame and had a number of legitimate opportunities on net. However, it was Detroit who took charge in scoring.

Detroit's Valtteri Filppula was the first to find the back of the net with a nice give-and-go play with Henrik Zetterberg. Going down the right side, Zetterberg found a crashing Filppula and slid it past Tuukka Rask to give the Red Wings an early 1-0 victory just 12:43 into the first period.

This is the fifth time in the Bruins 10 game winning streak that the B's have given up the first goal in the game.

The Bruins however, had a couple of chances that Jimmy Howard abolished pretty quickly.

8:46 into the first period, the Bruins drew a penalty and took the extra man. Chris Kelly came through the zone and around to the back of the net. After the puck left his stick, Jonathan Ericsson pushed him into the net, drawing an interference call.

With 12 seconds left on the power play, the Bruins set up and a one-timer from Zdeno Chara yielded a rebound right in front of Howard, but Nathan Horton couldn't put it over his glove and the Red Wings killed off the entire penalty.

Rask had five saves in the first, but hasn't been really tested so far and Howard looks very comfortable in net for Detroit, racking up 13 saves in the first.

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