RECAP: Red Wings 'came out with a really good game plan' en route to 5-4 win over Bruins

DETROIT -- Getting some retribution against an Original Six and Atlantic Division rival, the Detroit Red Wings snapped a four-game winless streak with a 5-4 victory over the Boston Bruins at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday night.

“It was a really good response against a very good team,” said Moritz Seider, who finished with a goal and two assists for his fifth multi-point game of the season. “We had the answers ready right from the start, came out with a really good game plan, executed very well, just buried our chances and focused on defense. It clicked today.”

The Red Wings (14-11-2; 30 points) were coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Bruins (15-13-0; 30 points) at TD Garden on Saturday night. Since Nov. 21, 2018, Detroit is 9-3-0 on home ice against Boston.

“After playing them [on Saturday] and getting to tonight’s game, we had an idea of what we had to do and polish up,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “I thought we did that well. I thought we played and defended faster. As players escape, climb and get into open ice, it really creates problems. We took some of that ice away from them. I thought we did that well, and all four lines were committed to doing it.”

The Red Wings took a 1-0 lead at 6:52 of the first period courtesy of James van Riemsdyk, who received Albert Johansson’s breakout stretch pass along the wall and raced into the left face-off circle before burying a nice wrist shot. Seider earned the secondary assist on van Riemsdyk’s fourth goal of the season and 20th of his NHL career against the Bruins, with whom the 36-year-old forward also played for in 2023-24.

“He looked energized,” McLellan said about van Riemsdyk, who has lit the lamp three times in his last four contests. “His brain always will make him faster. When his legs go like that, it’s really good. He had a good night.”

With some early momentum on its side, Detroit doubled that lead a little later in the first period when Seider’s point shot found the back of the net to make it 2-0 at 13:49. Seider’s goal was his fourth of the campaign, while Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat had the primary and secondary assists, respectively.

“I think we came out to a better start,” DeBrincat said. “It helps us build our game and play with confidence for the rest of the game.”

Just 1:35 into the second period, DeBrincat snapped off a shot from the slot that squeaked through Swayman to extend the Red Wings’ lead to 3-0. For DeBrincat, it marked the 27-year-old forward’s 13th goal of the season.

Jonathan Aspirot, who scored on a slap shot from the point at 11:09, and Alex Steeves, who potted a rebound at the edge of the right face-off circle at 15:38, helped Boston get back within one before Ben Chiarot snapped the puck in from the slot at 16:15 to send Detroit into the second intermission ahead 4-2.

A primary assist for captain Dylan Larkin on Chiarot’s fourth goal of the season extended his point streak to five straight contests, while a secondary helper for Lucas Raymond stretched his point streak to six.

“I thought the Chiarot goal was real important for us,” McLellan said. “It settled us back down.”

The Red Wings chased Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who finished with 18 saves, at 3:55 of the third period when Raymond made it 5-2 by blasting home a slap shot from the left face-off circle for a power-play goal. The assists on Raymond’s ninth tally of the season went to Seider and Kane.

In Boston on Saturday, Detroit came up empty on five man-advantage opportunities.

“Over the season, we have some good power plays and end up not scoring,” DeBrincat said. “It’s nice to put that one in and it ends up being the game-winner. I think we can be more consistent on the power play as well and try not to have games where we do go 0-for-5.”

With the action at 4-on-4, Marat Khusnutdinov got a piece of Hampus Lindholm’s shot for a tip-in goal to cut the Bruins’ deficit to 5-3 at 14:57 of the third period.

Steeves scored his second goal of the game for Boston at 19:48, beating netminder John Gibson after goaltender Joonas Korpisalo had been pulled for the extra skater with over three minutes left in regulation, but the Red Wings held on for the 5-4 final.

On the night, Gibson made a season-high 34 saves while Korpisalo had nine saves in relief for their respective clubs.

“The scrum to take it to 4-on-4 again, we don’t need that,” McLellan said. “We’re in control of the game. That is again, for me, game management and understanding situations. We’re learning. At least we got the win tonight, as we learned lessons.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will kick off a season-long six-game road trip when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.

WHAT WAS SAID

McLellan on Michael Rasmussen, who exited late in the third period

“Ras got double hit, I think, by a couple heavy players. He was examined, just didn’t have strength to come back. Nothing is damaged or anything like that, so we’ll see how he is in the morning.”

DeBrincat on the ending to Tuesday’s contest

“It’s going to happen. I think, obviously, it’s nice we had a little bit of a cushion. But, a few mistakes end up making it a closer game than it should have been.”

DeBrincat on securing a win at home before going on a lengthy road trip

“We got to take advantage of home games. For the most part, we’ve been good at home. A couple of duds, but overall, we’ve been pretty good and we need to keep that up. Obviously, we need to have that good road mentality for these next six games.”

Seider on Detroit's defensive structure against Boston these last two games

“We just got to keep it to the outside. Every team will have their chances in their moments. It’s just about limiting them as little as possible. Other than that, I think we just let Gibby see the puck a lot. With two good goalies, that usually takes care of itself."