Red Wings Can’t “Create Good Bounces” in Home Loss to Bruins

Red Wings Struggle in 2-1 Home Loss to Bruins, Fail to Generate Key Bounces

Puck management and a lack of initiative on the power play doomed the Detroit Red Wings in their 2-1 home defeat to the Boston Bruins.

Detroit captain Dylan Larkin noted after the game that there was a lot for the team to learn from the loss. “I thought we matched their compete. They get the first one, and we respond, then it’s a tight game. We ice the puck, and they get a face-off goal. It’s been an area of emphasis for us not to give up those goals, and we did, and that’s the difference. Crossbars are crossbars, but you have to create good bounces for yourself and drive the net.”

In the final minute, defenseman Moritz Seider hit the crossbar with a blast that could have tied the game. With a power play opportunity and an extra skater on the ice, Detroit had a six-on-four advantage but only managed minimal pressure on Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.

When asked if the Red Wings had created the “shot scramble chaos” he had prioritized earlier in the week, coach Derek Lalonde responded, “Not enough. We had some chances to get pucks on net. I do think we tried to get bodies to the net, but hitting the post was the one time the goalie didn’t have a chance.”

The game was tied 1-1 heading into the third period after goals from Jeremy Brazeau and Lucas Raymond in the first. But with 8:30 left in the third, Brad Marchand scored the go-ahead goal for the Bruins, and Detroit was unable to mount a meaningful attack thereafter, finishing the period with just four shots on Swayman. Despite Seider’s near-miss, the Red Wings failed to create the necessary bounces, leaving them to deal with the ones they got.

Lalonde pointed to poor puck management in the third period as the reason for the low shot total. “When we’re moving north, we’re a good team. But in the third, we couldn’t get out of our zone.”

On a night when Detroit played solid five-on-five hockey, limiting the Bruins to only five high-danger chances, their power play was a major disappointment. The Red Wings failed to score on four power play opportunities, including three in key moments, one after Brazeau’s opening goal and two in the second period that could have given them the lead.

Larkin acknowledged the power play’s lack of urgency: “We didn’t do enough to set up the next guy. It was just all five of us on the ice throwing garbage around and letting someone else deal with the issues. They kill hard and pressure us, and we need to be cleaner and set up the next play.”

Lalonde also critiqued the power play’s slow tempo: “We had good momentum, but once we got on the flank, it just stopped. It allowed them to get into position. When our power play was clicking earlier, it was fast, tic-tac-toe passing. We’ve gone back to being very slow, and that’s just not going to be effective.”

With only five points separating seventh place from twelfth in the Eastern Conference, Saturday’s loss was a missed opportunity for the Red Wings to jump into the thick of the wild card race. Instead, it marked another setback in a season where Detroit has struggled to find consistent form.

While the Red Wings’ defense looks more organized than earlier in the season, their power play has now gone seven tries without scoring. Though their penalty kill has improved, the team’s issues on the breakout remain. Sitting at 8-10-2, Detroit is five points out of a wild card spot and just two points above the conference basement, reflecting their ongoing inconsistency as they move into the second quarter of the season.