Bruins Beat Red Wings 3-2 In OT, Up 3-1 In Series
LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer
DETROIT (AP) — Jarome Iginla scored with 6:28 left in overtime, lifting the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night in Game 4 of their first-round series.
The Presidents' Trophy winners and defending Eastern Conference champions can advance with a win against Detroit on Saturday at home.
Detroit took a 2-0 lead early in the second period after Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall each had a goal and an assist.
Torey Krug scored midway through the second period to pull the Bruins within a goal. Milan Lucic tied it at 2 early in the third period.
Boston's Tuukka Rask stopped 35 shots. Detroit's Jonas Gustavsson made 37 saves in a surprise start Thursday night, filling in for Jimmy Howard, who was out with the flu.
Iginla was credited with the winning goal, but seemed to get some help putting the puck in the net. Boston's Dougie Hamilton sent a shot toward the net that Iginla redirected and the puck appeared to go off the left leg of Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser before going in the net to silence red-and-white clad fans.
Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg played for the first time since having back surgery two months ago. Zetterberg gave the crowd a jolt, leading to fired-up fans roaring when he was on the ice for his first shift, and seemed to also give his team a boost early in the game.
The Red Wings got off to a strong start after falling behind 2-0 after the opening period of the previous two games and losing both by a combined score of 7-1.
Kronwall's slap shot on a power play 11 minutes into the game put Detroit up 1-0, ending its 0-for-10 drought with an extra skater in the series. It also ended the defenseman's 24-game streak without a goal in the playoffs.
Datsyuk scored for the first time since he had the game-winner in Game 1, shooting into an open net from the right side after Kronwall lightly tapped the puck to him.
Both players will have quite a story to tell their kids. Datsyuk's wife had a girl on Wednesday and Kronwall's girlfriend gave birth to a boy Thursday afternoon.
Rask gave up as many goals (two) in 24-plus minutes of Thursday's game as he did in the first three games combined. He didn't allow another puck past him for the next 36 minutes of regulation.
The Bruins looked as though they might be in trouble when they gave Detroit a power play 8:03 into the second period, trailing by two goals, but Todd Bertuzzi was called for interference 13 seconds later. Boston made the most of the opportunity with Krug scoring from the top of the slot through traffic just before Bertuzzi could leave the penalty box.
Lucic scored his second goal of the series, taking advantage of the Red Wings being out of position in front of the net and teammate Carl Soderberg making a backhanded pass from behind the net.
Marchand missed a chance to score into an open net — for the second time in Game 4 — midway through the third period when he sent a shot wide.
Detroit's Justin Abdelkader had an opportunity to win the game about a minute into overtime on a breakaway, but Rask made his 33rd save of the game. Soderberg forced Gustavsson to make a game-extending save 5-plus minutes into the extra period.
NOTES: Boston coach Claude Julien, a day after his 54th birthday, coached in his 100th playoff game. ... Bertuzzi played for the first time this postseason, replacing Tomas Jurco, and stood in front of Rask to help Kronwall score in the first. ... The Bruins scratched Daniel Paille, who has not played in the series because of a concussion. ... Detroit was without Daniel Alfredsson for a second straight game because of his back injury, but the Red Wings expect him to be healthy enough to play in Game 5. ... If the Red Wings extend the best-of-series by winning at Boston, they will host Game 6 on Monday night.
___
Follow Larry Lage on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/larrylage
(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)