Bruins Fall to Detroit in Road Trip Finale

DETROIT –- Cam Talbot made 20 saves to help the Detroit Red Wings to a crucial 2-1 win against the Boston Bruins at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

Talbot made a spectacular glove save on Casey Mittelstadt with 9.8 seconds left to preserve the win.

“We had a really good chance there at the end, and (Talbot) made a quality save against us,” Bruins coach Joe Sacco said. “It didn’t go in – I don’t know if that’s because things aren’t going well.”

Marco Kasper and Lucas Raymond scored for the Red Wings (34-33-6), who had lost four of five while battling for a wild card in the Eastern Conference.

“I think it started with the confidence (Talbot) gave the rest of the group,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “He wasn’t bombarded, but when he had to make a really big save – like that one at the end – he made it.”

With the win, Detroit pulled within a point of the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Rangers in the race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings are tied with the New York Islanders with 74 points.

“We have to stay on an even keel,” said Talbot, one of the few Red Wings with extensive playoff experience. “This is a big, emotional win, but we have to go on the road now and we can’t get too low or too high.

“If we keep playing our game, I like our chances.”

Morgan Geekie scored for Boston (30-35-9), which has lost eight straight (0-7-1). Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves. The Bruins are six points out of the second wild card.

“I thought we played hard for 60 minutes – that’s the most complete game we’ve had for a while,” Geekie said. “It’s tough to not see any results from that, but we can take some positives from it.”

Kasper gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 5:37, intercepting a Mason Lohrei pass and beating Swayman on the glove side from the face-off circle.

Raymond made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 53 seconds of the second period, one-timing home Moritz Seider’s cross-ice pass.

Geekie pulled Boston within 2-1 at 2:12, scoring on the power play with a deflection through Talbot’s legs.

“The job of the penalty killers is to keep you on the outside and the power play is trying to get inside,” Sacco said. “We were direct and we got the puck into the slot for a nice high-tip play.”