The game marked the first time that two former Grand Rapids Griffins coaches, Jeff Blashill of the Wings and Bruce Cassidy of the Bruins, opposed each other at the NHL level.
1. Niklas Kronwall: Kronwall started the season on injured reserve because of a chronic knee injury that he still works to maintain enough to play. At 17:35 of the second period, Kronwall took a shot from the right point that eluded Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask for his first goal of the season. The last time Kronwall scored was on Jan. 17, 2016 against the Philadelphia Flyers, a span of 59 games without a goal. Mike Green and Dylan Larkin assisted.
Quotable: "Again, I wish I had an answer for you. It should be fairly simple. Tonight, I thought even the simplest plays, plays were there. We just didn't execute. That's kind of been the story for some time now. We just have to be better. There's no hiding that." - Kronwall
2. Jared Coreau: It's been tough for Coreau to get back in the rotation with Petr Mrazek reestablishing himself. Mrazek had made the last eight starts. But in the second game of a back-to-back, Coreau was in goal for the first time since Feb. 12 in Minnesota. The first half of the first period went well but then the Wings started turning the puck over. The Bruins scored three goals on eight shots and Wings coach Jeff Blashill sent Mrazek out to replace Coreau.
Quotable: "It wasn't fair. It wasn't on the goalie at all. Jared had nothing to do with it. I needed to slow the game down a little bit and then once Pete went in I thought Pete was playing good. I didn't think it was fair to put Jared back in at that point. But Jared had nothing to do with it. It was unfortunate for him. I told him that when we pulled him." - Blashill
3. Andreas Athanasiou-Dylan Larkin-Anthony Mantha: After playing Athanasiou, Larkin and Mantha with veteran players, Blashill unleashed then as a line whose collective age is 64 years old. Larkin won 6-of-10 face-offs while Athanasiou was 0-for-3. Mantha and Athanasiou each had two shots while Larkin had one. The three were a collective minus-5, like the rest of the team.
Quotable: "It's amazing how hard it is in this league. I really put lots on their shoulders, maybe I put too much on their shoulders. The other young guys got maybe other vets to carry them around a little bit. We've done that with our young guys. I wanted to see where they stacked up. I think a couple of them were the result of goals, now they were 4-on-4 but we got to be better than that." - Blashill
