Swayman makes 41 saves, Bruins score 3 in 3rd to rally past Red Wings

DETROIT -- Jeremy Swayman made 41 saves, and the Boston Bruins scored three goals in the third period to rally for a 4-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

“That was the best I’ve seen (Swayman) play since I’ve been around,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “He was unbelievable -- he won the game for us.”

Morgan Geekie had three assists, and David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins (39-23-8), who have points in five straight games (3-0-2).

Boston pulled two points ahead of Detroit for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Bruins are fourth in the Atlantic Division but tied in points with the third-place Montreal Canadiens, having played one more game.

“We’ve been down in the third period a couple of times lately, but there’s no quitting in this team,” Lindholm said. “We just stay with it and keep playing the same way, and we seem to find ways to win.”

Geekie has seven points (two goals, five assists) in four games against the Red Wings this season.

“He’s learned a lot this season about the things he needs to do other than scoring,” Sturm said. “When he does those things, like he did tonight, I’m always happy to see him get rewarded.”

Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond scored for the Red Wings (38-24-8). John Gibson made 23 saves and stopped Lukas Reichel on a penalty shot in the third period.

“I liked our game -- I think if we play that game over again and get some puck luck, we might score a few more times,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “But you also have to tip your cap to the goaltender for playing a great game.”

The Red Wings are one point ahead of the New York Islanders for the second wild card.

“No team is going to help us down the stretch,” Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider said. “In the last couple of years, we counted on other teams to help us, but now we are in a position to take care of it ourselves.”

DeBrincat gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 4:06 of the third period, taking a pass from Seider before putting a wrist shot over Swayman’s glove from the top of the left face-off circle.

Lindholm tied it 2-2 at 6:22, putting a low wrist shot inside the far post for his 13th goal, and Nikita Zadorov beat Gibson with a long shot past his blocker to make it 3-2 at 9:42.

It was Zadorov’s second goal in 69 games this season.

“I thought the defenseman had a bad gap, so I was trying to use him to hide my shot,” he said. “I’ve been shooting high glove side all season and nothing is going in, so I tried high blocker.”

Reichel was stopped on a penalty shot at 13:52, but Marat Khusnutdinov scored an empty-net goal at 18:08 for the 4-2 final.

The Red Wings appeared to take the lead at the end of the first period, when J.T. Compher knocked his own rebound over Swayman’s glove. However, video review showed that the clock reached 0.0 just before the puck crossed the goal line.

Raymond gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 3:35 of the second period. Patrick Kane’s pass found Andrew Copp at the right side of the crease, and he slid the puck to Raymond as he arrived at the back post for the tap-in.

A minute later, the Red Wings committed two penalties in eight seconds. Pastrnak took advantage of the 5-on-3 power play to beat Gibson with a one-timer from the left face-off circle at 5:07 to tie it 1-1.

“That’s just a gift -- giving them a 5-on-3 for that long,” McLellan said. 

NOTES: Pastrnak’s assist was his 500th in the NHL in his 820th game. He is the fourth-fastest player in Bruins history to 500 assists, behind Bobby Orr (522 games), Phil Esposito (562) and Ray Bourque (655). … Pastrnak has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) during a nine-game point streak. … Pastrnak has 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) in 33 career games against the Red Wings. … Pastrnak scored his 132nd career power-play goal and passed Patrice Bergeron for fourth-most in Bruins history. … Swayman is the only goalie to defeat the Red Wings three times this season. … DeBrincat extended his point streak to six games (10 points; two goals, eight assists).