Bruins finish listless five-game trip with loss to Red Wings
The Bruins were outscored, 23-7, in the five games, all but certifying that they will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Wings, who have been playoff DNQs the last eight seasons, were paced to the victory by goals from Marco Kasper and Lucas Raymond, which had them ahead, 2-0, by the 0:53 mark of the second period.
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Morgan Geekie, connecting on a tip of a Dave Pastrnak shot, scored the lone goal for the Black and Gold.
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Now with only eight games remaining in the regular season, the Bruins next will take on Washington Tuesday night at TD Garden, with Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin within range of tying or breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL mark of 894 goals.
Only 5:37 into the opening period, the Bruins found themselves on familiar ground: yet again chasing the game.
Kasper walked in and popped the 1-0 lead by Jeremy Swayman after picking off Mason Lohrei's ill-advised pass attempt for Dave Pastrnak. The Austrian-born Kasper picked it off and cashed in for the unassisted strike.
In their previous four games on the five-game road trip, the Bruins only once scored the game's opening goal (Elias Lindholm Sunday at Los Angeles), in part why they posted a mere 2:24 in lead time in those four losses.
It was goal No. 15 this season for Kasper, 20, who was chosen eighth overall by the Wings in the 2022 draft. Lohrei, struggling mightily of late, fell to minus-34 for the season. He has skill, especially at the front end of the ice, but his defensive deficiencies have been exposed and exploited when asked to play higher in the blue liner order.
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The two sides were 35 seconds from reaching the first intermission when Nikita Zadorov popped Jonatan Berggren with a late hit, leaving the Wings with new ice and 1:25 of power play time for the start of the second period.
Only 55 seconds into the new session, Raymond rifled home the 2-0 lead, riveting his one-timer under the crossbar for his 26th goal of the season. An unwise hit by Zadrov set it up, and the Wings made the Bruins pay for it with the big blue liner watching from the penalty box.
Only 1:19 later, at 2:12 of the second, the Bruins cut the deficit in half on a rare power-play goal of their own. David Pastrnak, who posted an ugly minus-5 in the recent 6-2 loss at Anaheim, fired a shot toward the net and Geekie's tricky tip eluded Cam Talbot. It was Geekie's 27th goal this season and his fourth on the trip.
Geekie's strike turned out to be the final goal of the middle period. The Bruins were in arrears, 2-1, at the start of the third period. It was the fourth time on the trip that they trailed at the 40:00 mark.
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Former Bruins captain Brad Marchand, dealt to Florida at the March 7 trade deadline, made a boffo debut with the Panthers Friday night, collecting the primary assist on Sam Bennett's 2-1 overtime winner against Utah. Career point No. 977 for the L'il Ball o'Hate … Another ex-Bruin, mild-mannered defenseman Brandon Carlo, now under Maple Leafs employment, on Saturday night engaged in only his second fight since December 2018. He took on Los Angeles's Jeff Malott who is five years into his pro career after graduating from Cornell in 2020. It was only Carlo's eighth fight in 628 regular-season games. Ex-Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy more than once said he wished Carlo could work some 'mean pills' into his diet … Fraser Minten, the promising 20-year-old center acquired from Toronto in the Carlo deal, has produced a line of 3-4–7 with AHL Providence … Former Blackhawks star Patrick Kane added an assist (his 33rd this season) on the Lucas Raymond goal that boosted the Winged Wheels to a 2-0 lead … Ever-willing Jakub Lauko walked into a buzz saw in the first period when he took on a much bigger Austin Watson in a center-ice bout. Watson, three inches taller and 45 pounds heavier, worked Lauko over like a lightweight punching bag. The only solace for the Bruins: Watson was tagged with an additional 1-minute misconduct, likely because of his overaggressive throwdown of Lauko as the beatdown ended. Ouch. Watson's career PIMs increased to 722 … Bruin blue liner Andrew Peeke engaged in only his third career fight — his first since Dec. 30, 2021 — trading punches with Alex DeBrincat only 1:06 into the first period. Peeke showed little interest in going, until DeBrincat, unprovoked, smacked him in the face.
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