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Bruins host Red Wings to kick off home-and-home set

Feb 11, 2011 - 4:01 PM (Sports Network) - The Bruins have shown over their homestand that they won't be pushed around, either on the ice or on the scoreboard. Boston takes aim at a fifth victory in six games this evening in the finale of a four-game residency and start of a home-and-home series against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden.

The Bruins began this stay with a 6-3 victory over the Stars on Feb. 3 in a contest that featured three fights just four seconds into the game. After a much tamer 2-0 setback to San Jose two days later, Boston again got tough in a wild 8-6 victory over Original Six rival Montreal on Wednesday.

When all was said and done, the two Northeast Division residents had combined for 45 penalties totaling 182 minutes. Even goaltenders Carey Price and Tim Thomas got into the act with a second-period fight, with Thomas becoming the first Bruins netminder to earn a fighting major since Byron Dafoe in 2002.

"Play was pretty open at both ends there," said Thomas, who allowed a season- high six goals on 33 shots. "It was old-time hockey out there tonight and it was a fun game to play in."

More importantly for the Bruins, they picked up the victory to push their edge over the Canadiens for first place in the division to four points with 69, though Montreal got a point back with last night's 4-3 shootout setback to the Islanders.

Nathan Horton scored and had four assists in Wednesday's victory, while Milan Lucic and Michael Ryder both tallied twice as Boston had just six players left on its bench by game's end.

Daniel Paille missed the game as he continues to serve a four-game suspension for a hit to the head versus the Stars last week.

Despite the rough outing, Thomas still leads the NHL with a 1.91 goals-against average and .942 save percentage. He is 1-2-0 with a 2.69 GAA in his career versus the Red Wings, who have struggled on offense as of late.

Detroit has scored just four goals over its last four games and has dropped three of those contests. Two of the setbacks have come to the Predators, who defeated the Red Wings, 4-1, on Wednesday to pull within five points of the Central Division leaders.

Only Ruslan Salei's first goal of the season in the second period prevented the Red Wings from getting shut out for the third time in four games. Jimmy Howard yielded for goals on 16 shots and was pulled after just over 30 minutes of action. Joey MacDonald made 14 saves in relief.

"We had a little push there for a second, but not long enough and not sustained enough," said Detroit head coach Mike Babcock.

Not helping Detroit's struggles was Valtteri Filppula missing the game with a knee injury that is expected to sideline him for a week.

Howard's 26 wins are tied with four other goaltenders, including Thomas, for the most in the league. He should get a chance to rebound from his previous outing tonight with his first ever start against Boston.

The Red Wings did notch a 2-0 home win over the Bruins in the lone meeting last year, but Boston has still won four of the last six meetings and three of the last four played in Beantown.

The Bruins visit the Red Wings on Sunday.