Bruins Pound Red Wings, NHL Roundup

By ESPN

The Boston Bruins had a relaxing night in the middle of a tight playoff chase.

David Krejci scored twice and Drew Stafford had his first with Boston during a four-goal first period that carried the Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the struggling Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.

Brad Marchand had his team-leading 31st and 32nd goals, David Pastrnak also scored, and Tuukka Rask made 26 saves. Boston is 9-3 since interim coach Bruce Cassidy replaced the fired Claude Julien on Feb. 7.

The Bruins were looking to rebound from a key divisional loss at Ottawa on Monday. They found it against the Red Wings, who have the Eastern Conference's fewest points.

"The type of season that Detroit's having, it's a little bit different than Ottawa," Stafford said. "There's a little bit more room out there, a little bit more time to make some plays."

Boston moved four points ahead of Toronto for third in the Atlantic Division.

"If you look at our response from the game in Ottawa, it's a good one," Cassidy said. "It's a credit to them."

Niklas Kronwall had his first goal of the season for Detroit. The Red Wings finished a five-game trip 1-3-1.

"It was too easy to play against us," Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg said. "We were just giving away chances."

Detroit starting goalie Jared Coreau was pulled after giving up three goals during a 2:25 span in what's likely his last game with the team before he's shipped back to the minors.

Jimmy Howard, a regular goalie with the Red Wings the past eight seasons, finished his second two-game conditioning stint with Grand Rapids of the AHL on Tuesday. He's scheduled to join the team this week.

Krejci gave Boston a 1-0 lead 11:07 into the game when he skated around defenseman Danny DeKeyser and slipped a wrist shot by Coreau's glove.

"We just didn't execute," Kronwall said. "It's been that way for some time now."

Marchand skated quickly to a loose puck just inside the blue line and broke in alone before firing a shot inside the left post, making it 2-0 just 1:01 later.

Stafford, acquired for a conditional sixth-round pick from Winnipeg at the trade deadline, made it 3-0 at 13:32. Krejci stole the puck from defenseman Dylan Larkin in the slot and beat goalie Petr Mrazek with 14.9 seconds left. Marchand scored on a clean breakaway late in the second period.

Rask knew he's be tested when the Bruins got up big.

"Every time seems to be the same thing, you're playing a bit looser and guys feel like there's more space out there for offense," he said. "As a goalie you just have to be aware of that situation and play the game like it's a tight game."

Wednesday, March 8 Scoreboard

Boston 6, Detroit 1

Ottawa 5, Dallas 2

Pittsburgh 7, Winnipeg 4

Thursday, March 9  Schedule (All Times Central)

New York Rangers at Carolina, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Minnesota at Tampa  Bay, 6:30 p.m.

Anaheim at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

New Jersey at Colorado, 8 p.m.

Montreal at  Calgary, 8 p.m.

Ottawa at Arizona, 8 p.m.

New York Islanders at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

Nashville at Los Angeles, 9:30 p.m.

Washington at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.

Friday, March 10 Schedule (All Times Central)

Buffalo at Columbus, 6 p.m.

Chicago at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.

Minnesota at Florida, 6:30 p.m.

Anaheim at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Edmonton, 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 11 Schedule (All Times Central)

Philadelphia at Boston, noon

Nashvilel at San Jose, 3 p.m.

Columbus at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

Florida at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.

Toronto at Carolina, 6 p.m.

Calgary at Winnipeg, 6 p.m.

Ottawa at Colorado, 6 p.m.

New York Islanders at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

New Jersey at Arizona, 7 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

Washington at Los Angeles, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 12 Schedule (All Times Central)

Minnesota at Chicago, 11:30 a.m.

New York Rangers at Detroit, 6 p.m.

Montreal at Edmonton, 6 p.m.

Washington at Anaheim, 8:30 p.m.

Dallas at San Jose, 9 p.m.