Bruins visit Red Wings for Game 3 with Series Tied at 1-1

The Detroit Red Wings accomplished what they were looking for in the first two games of their first round NHL best of seven series versus the Boston Bruins, a split.

Detroit was able to win one of the two games in Boston and now holds the home ice advantage heading into game 3 tonight in Detroit.

The Bruins were able to come back in win game 2 on Sunday 4-1 but could not entice the Red Wings players into any post whistle skirmishes.

The Bruins Zdeno Chara attempted to coax Brendan Smith into fighting at the end of period one on Sunday, but the Detroit player was able to hold his composure and not drop his gloves.

The Red Wings are a skilled team and do not use fighting to give them more of an advantage over opponents. However, the Bruins are very physical and look to take opponents out of their comfort zone to get an advantage.

Boston has lost each of its past 4 games in Detroit, including both this season. The Bruins are winless at Joe Louis Arena since March of 2007.

However, with their bounce back win in Game 2, Boston set the tone early with physical play with big hits from Milan Lucic and Kevan Miller.

Being physical and playing tough defense usually leads to more scoring opportunities for Boston, which was apparent in Game 2. Those same tactics need to be used by the Bruins in Game 3 on Tuesday.

On defense, the Bruins seem to be getting things done. Even thought they lost game 1, Boston’s defense has allowed just 1 goal in two games. However, the Bruins cannot get complacent and must provide Tuukka Rask their talented goaltender with the defense he needs.

Detroit did stay disciplined in game 2 by not getting involved with any fights but the team was distracted with the scrums that took place after the whistle.

Goaltender Jimmy Howard says his teammates need to stay away from the nonsense after the whistle and just go 100% from whistle to whistle.

Pavel Datsyuk a star forward for Detroit was matched up too much in games 1 and 2 against Chara the Boston defenseman. However Detroit will have the second change tonight at home and that should free up Datsyuk from Chara.

Thus far Rask has stopped 57 of the 59 shots he has faced for a save percentage of .966.

Luke Glendening, a forward for Detroit recorded just his second goal in his NHL career and first in the postseason for Detroit’s lone goal in game 2.

Boston’s Matt Bartkowski and Daniel Paille skated on Monday and are questionable for the game. Chris Kelly did not skate on Monday but will travel with the team to Detroit.

For Detroit, Jonathan Ericsson and Henrik Zetterberg are out for the entire series.

Boston has played its style of tough hockey all season and that gave them the best overall record in the NHL. However, against Detroit a team that is full of talented skaters, the Bruins have had their problems.

However, Boston should prevail in Game 3 by the score of 2-1.