BOSTON (AP) - David Pastrnak’s long-awaited 20th goal of the season came at an opportune moment for the struggling Boston Bruins.
Pastrnak scored with 46.9 seconds left in overtime to lift the Bruins to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, ending Boston’s four-game losing streak.
“It’s very nice to get the one - especially with the win,” said Pastrnak, who hadn’t scored since getting his 19th on Dec. 14 against Pittsburgh.
Brad Marchand had two goals as the Bruins won for the first time since beating Philadelphia 6-3 on Jan. 14. Boston also atoned for blowing a 3-0 lead against the Red Wings, who rallied to beat the Bruins 6-5 in a shootout six days before.
Pastrnak, who had an assist on Marchand’s first goal, put an end to his 17-game stretch without a goal.
“It was just a matter of time,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “It’s been a while and I think that he has been feeling the pressure and hopefully that’s a step in the right direction for him.”
Kevan Miller also scored for Boston and Tuukka Rask finished with 23 saves.
Mike Green had a goal and assist for the Red Wings, who extended their point streak to six straight games despite losing three straight in overtime.
“Right now not good just enough to get that point,” Green said. “It does sting. We’ve got to find a way to get it done in regular time because obviously things aren’t bouncing our way in overtime.”
Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar also scored and Henrik Zetterberg added two assists.
Jared Coreau finished with 45 saves in his second start against the Bruins in less than a week. He was pulled just 5:13 into the Red Wings’ 6-5 shootout win at home last Wednesday after allowing three goals on eight shots.
This one also appeared headed for a shootout until Pastrnak ended it with his 20th of the season.
“I think the frustrating thing was that we were playing pretty well and then the other team just kept getting the lead,” Marchand said. “We showed a lot of character and resiliency and got a great comeback win tonight.”
Marchand’s second goal of the game tied it 3-3 with 11:40 left in the third period on a rebound after Coreau stopped Patrice Bergeron twice from in front.
The Bruins had the first 12 shots of the game and took a 1-0 lead 3:39 in on a wrist shot by Kevan Miller from the left circle. It was the first goal of the season for Miller, who returned after missing four games with a concussion.
Detroit didn’t have a shot on goal until Athanasiou scored on a breakaway at 10:59 to tie it at 1.
“I thought as the period went along we got better,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought by the end of the first we had played better than certainly the first half. The first half was really, really bad.”
Marchand put Boston up 2-1 with a power-play goal late in the first period. Detroit was down a man after Jonathan Ericsson was called for playing the puck with a broken stick at center ice to prevent a breakaway for the Bruins.
Boston outshot Detroit 21-7 in the first period and had a 33-16 advantage in shots after two, but entered the third trailing 3-2 after the Red Wings scored twice in the second.
Green tied it at 2-all with a shot that deflected in off Miller’s skate 6:25 into the second. Gustav Nyquist got an assist, the 100th of his career.
Tatar gave Detroit its first lead with 8:09 left in the second with his 11th goal of the season, getting just enough on a shot between Rask’s legs for the puck to trickle through. Henrik Zetterberg assisted on both second-period goals.
NOTES: Detroit was without C Dylan Larkin and LW Thomas Vanek, who were tied for the team lead with 12 goals apiece. Detroit placed Larkin on seven-day injured reserve with an upper-body injury and Vanek was out with a lower-body injury. … Miller’s goal was Boston’s first at home since Marchand scored on an empty net with 54 seconds remaining in a 6-3 win over Philadelphia on Jan. 14. The Bruins were shut out by the New York Islanders (4-0) and Chicago Blackhawks (1-0) in their previous two home games, a stretch of 1:24:33. … C Dominic Moore assisted on Miller’s goal for his first point since getting an assist Jan. 8 against Carolina.
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Host Toronto on Wednesday night.
Bruins: Host Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.