This might be the easiest Bruins game recap that I've ever written. Tonight they dropped Game 1 of the first round to Detroit, 1-0 at TD Garden. The result wasn't that surprising if you watched the game because Boston took way too long to find itself and by the time they did, it was in the third period.
Red Wings superstar Pavel Datsyuk made an incredible move to get open then snap a shot past Tuukka Rask (23 saves) at 16:59 of the third period. He was assisted by Johan Franzen. That's all that Jimmy Howard (25 saves) needed as he posted his third career playoff shutout.
There is no need to panic (yet) for Bruins fans but I will say that I think Game 2 on Sunday (3, NBC) is basically a must-win. I had a hunch this series would go six or seven so I felt like the Red Wings would win a few games but the B's really don't want to be down 2-0 then going on the road.
Boston's top line was mostly non-existent and the second line was just ok. The defense pairings and last two forward lines were remodeled as Chris Kelly (back), Daniel Paille (concussion), Matt Bartkowski and Kevan Miller (both have flu, I think) were all surprisingly out. It's not like any of those guys is irreplaceable but losing them all at the same time means that the Bruins don't have the depth they normally display.
The B's will also have to change their gameplan a bit in later games too since they didn't possess the puck nearly enough or go on the power play (once). It's nice that they had eight more hits (34-26) than the Red Wings but Detroit didn't seem to mind at all as they owned the puck which is the most important aspect of hockey besides scoring goals which they could also improve on.
UPDATE 4/19: Milan Lucic was fined $5000 (most allowed under CBA) for spearing Danny DeKeyser in the groin last night, Happy Easter!
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