Red Wings top Bruins 2-1 for 4th win in 15 games to preserve flickering playoff hopes
DETROIT (AP) — Lucas Raymond and Marco Kasper scored, Cam Talbot stopped 21 shots and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Saturday night.
Detroit, clinging to flickering playoff hopes, won for just the fourth time in 15 games. The Red Wings are tied with the New York Islanders — three points behind the New York Rangers for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Montreal and Columbus are two points behind the Rangers.
The rebuilding Bruins, who traded captain Brad Marchand at the trade deadline, have lost eight straight for the first time since dropping 10 games in a row in 2010.
Morgan Geekie pulled Boston within a goal early in the second period on a power play and Jeremy Swayman finished with 20 saves. The Bruins pulled Swayman with 1:56 left to add an extra skater, but couldn’t score again.
Both teams had players drop gloves in two different fights in the opening 2:01 before either team had a shot on goal.
Kasper scored on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle 5:37 into the game for the rookie’s 15th goal.
Raymond’s 26th goal in the opening minute of the second period put Detroit ahead 2-0. Shortly thereafter, Geekie redirected a pass from the front of the net for his 27th goal.
The Bruins are in danger of not making the playoffs for the first time since 2016, which was the last year Detroit was in the postseason.
Takeaways
Bruins: David Pastrank set up Geekie with a slick pass for his 51st assist and with 35 goals, he’s among the NHL’s top 10 in points.
Red Wings: Picking a bad time to have its worst month of the season, Detroit went 4-10 in March.
Key moment
Talbot made a glove save with 9.3 seconds left, denying Casey Mittelstadt’s shot to seal Detroit’s victory.
Key stat
Kasper’s 30 points trail the production of just three Austrian players during their rookie seasons in the NHL.
Up next
Bruins host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, and Red Wings play at St. Louis.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
By LARRY LAGE
AP Hockey Writer
