• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Bruins aim to eliminate Red Wings in Boston

Apr 26, 2014 - 2:56 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Boston Bruins will try to win a fourth straight game and advance to the second round of the playoffs when they host the Detroit Red Wings in Saturday's Game 5 at TD Garden.

The Red Wings notched a 1-0 win in Boston to open this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, but the top-seeded Bruins have won three straight since Game 1 to push Detroit to the brink of elimination.

If the Bruins win on Saturday, they will head to the conference semifinals to face the Montreal Canadiens, who swept Tampa Bay in the first round. If Detroit wins, however, the Bruins and Wings will meet Monday at Joe Louis Arena for Game 6.

Boston has outscored the Red Wings by a 10-3 margin over the last three games, but Thursday's Game 4 meeting in the Motor City was a close battle. Jarome Iginla was credited with the game-winner just over 13 1/2 minutes into overtime, as the Bruins scored three unanswered goals en route to the 3-2 win victory.

Dougie Hamilton threw a shot on net from just above the right circle that tipped off Iginla's stick in the circle before deflecting in off Danny DeKeyser's leg in front to give the Bruins a commanding 3-1 lead in this best- of-seven series.

The marker was the 33rd of Iginla's playoff career, but it marked the first time the 36-year-old netted a postseason OT winner.

"It was a pretty fortunate goal, fortunate bounce," Iginla said of his game- winner. "An ugly one, but that seems to be how a lot of those are in OT."

Boston trailed 2-0 early in the second, but Torey Krug potted a power-play goal just past the midpoint of the frame before Milan Lucic lit the lamp 1:15 into the third to tie the tilt.

Tuukka Rask, who on Friday was named as one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, turned aside 35 shots for the Bruins.

Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall tallied a goal and an assist apiece for Detroit, which is one loss away from being eliminated in the first round for the second time in three years. The Red Wings were bounced out by Nashville in the opening round of the 2012 playoffs before losing in the second round to Chicago last spring.

The Red Wings played Thursday without No. 1 goaltender Jimmy Howard, who was a late scratch from Game 4 after coming down with a case of the flu. Jonas Gustavsson played well in a pinch, stopping 37 shots in his first career playoff start.

Gustavsson will get the start again on Saturday, as Howard has not recovered from his illness. Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said Howard could suit up as the backup, but Detroit recalled Jake Patterson in case he is unable to dress for Game 5.

Although the Red Wings were missing Howard in Game 4, Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg made his return from a 30-game absence and recorded one shot in just over 19 1/2 minutes of ice time. Zetterberg, who had back surgery on Feb. 21, saw his first NHL action since playing Feb. 8 in Tampa.

Zetterberg, who had 48 points on 16 goals and 32 assists in 2013-14 for Detroit, is hoping he can help his team extend the series on Saturday.

"It is steep, but we know it's tough to close out a series," Zetterberg said. "We just have to go and win a game and bring it back here."

Detroit forward Daniel Alfredsson has missed the last two games of the series with back spasms but expects to return for Game 5.

This series is the first playoff meeting between the Bruins and Red Wings since the 1957 Stanley Cup semifinals. The clubs spent decades playing in opposite conferences before Detroit moved to the East as part of the NHL's realignment plan for the 2013-14 season.