Red Wings beat Bruins in 2014-15 season opener

 

By @SKubus –

DETROIT – For a team that had so much trouble succeeding on home ice last season, the victorious result of Thursday night’s season opener was a welcoming sight for the Red Wings.

Not to mention it came against the same team that eliminated them from the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season: Original Six and Atlantic Division rival Boston Bruins. Second period goals from Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist, along with a 16-save performance from Jimmy Howard, propelled Detroit to a 2-1 victory over the B’s at Joe Louis Arena.

“This is one of the teams everyone is talking about to be a Stanley Cup contender and favorite, so it was a good measuring stick for us on night one, but we’ve got to follow it up; we can’t be content and happy,” Abdelkader said.

Despite giving up a goal on Boston’s first shot, which didn’t come until halfway through the opening period, Howard was dialed in the rest of the way, turning away the other 15 shots he faced, including some huge saves late in the game.

“I think this is our recipe for success,” Howard said of the team effort. “Most nights, for us, it’s going to take a lot of hard work and a full 60 minutes. It’s going to be a lot of hard-fought games and a lot of games that mean something for us this year.”

Detroit started out with a dominant 7-0 shot advantage in the game’s opening 10 minutes. But Patrice Bergeron opened the game’s scoring on Boston’s first shot, as he capitalized on a Detroit turnover at the left circle and wired a wrister past Howard.

But the Red Wings responded with a pair of goals in a solid second period to take control of the game.

Danny DeKeyser’s bullet of a point shot tipped off Abdelkader’s rear end before beating Rask to tie the game up. Johan Franzen was initially credited with the goal, but it was later given to the former Spartan.

“I felt it hit me, and redirect and I know Franzen tipped it, too, I bet, so a double deflection,” Abdelkader said.

Late in the second period, Darren Helm’s slick cross-slot pass to Nyquist fooled both Rask and the Bruins defense, giving ‘Goose’ a virtually empty net to deposit the go-ahead goal into for the team’s first power play tally of the season.

“It feels real nice for the power play,” Nyquist said. “I thought we could’ve done some things better, but we still got some chances… We skated hard, I think we were a fast team tonight. They played last night, so we knew they were going to be a little tired, so we tried to come out hard and I think we did that.”

Despite a late penalty frenzy from both sides, Detroit was able to stymie the Bruins’ attack to hang on for the 2-1, season-opening victory.

 

“I thought our team worked real hard,” head coach Mike Babcock said. “Howie didn’t have much work early, but made some good saves late. The penalty killing was good, but we killed too many penalties. We got a power play goal. Our power play wasn’t great early, but managed to score a goal, so a good night for us.”

Detroit will continue its three-game home-stand Saturday against Anaheim, followed by a grudge match against Boston next Wednesday.