Boston— The Red Wings found themselves in TD Garden facing a hot Boston Bruins team, on national TV, and they faceplanted. Detroit was shut out 3-0 by the Bruins.

Boston had won three games in a row heading into Tuesday’s matchup, while Detroit came into the contest with a four-game winning streak of their own, backstopped by John Gibson. Cam Talbot started for Detroit for the first time in nearly two weeks, while Gibson, who has started in net for the Red Wings for the majority of games since early December, got the night off.

Jeremy Swayman started for the Bruins and showed why he is still counted among the better goalies in the league with a flurry of glove saves early in the game to blank the Red Wings. Detroit had won each of its last four contests with 4+ goals. However, Swayman and the Boston defense kept them off the scoreboard.

Slow Start For Red Wings

It was a slow start to action for the Red Wings, getting outshot 13-10 by the end of the first frame. Talbot made some strong saves at the end of the first period to keep Boston off the scoreboard. However, Pavel Zacha’s persistence on rebounding shots eventually broke through for Boston in the second, getting the Bruins up 1-0 a little over halfway through the second period.

Fraser Minten made it 2-0 for the home team with an early goal in the third period. Red Wings’ coach Todd McLellan pulled Talbot with four minutes left in the game, leading to an empty-net goal by Mark Kastelic to seal the game at 3-0.

Detroit showed some signs of fight, but seemed to lack some energy in their second game in as many nights. Talbot kept them in the game for much of the night but was overwhelmed by the midpoint of the third period.

Takeaways

Zacha’s goal in the second period marked his 14th of the season, coming on a feed from Mason Lohrei and Victor Arvidsson as the secondary. Arvidsson had six shots on goal before the third period began. While the shot disparity between the Red Wings and Bruins was not high tonight going into the third, the Bruins’ shooting came in bunches, and they got their goals by hammering away at Talbot in short bursts.

Key Moment

Arvidsson had a shift early in the game where he had three shots on goal before the Red Wings could clear the puck from the zone. Talbot played well for a backup coming in cold after four games, but the Red Wings defense fell through and that sequence by Boston set the tone for much of the game.

Key Stats

Swayman, despite being 17-11-2 this season, did not have a shutout all year until tonight. Boston, meanwhile, has outscored opponents 18-3 in their last four games.

Up Next

The Red Wings face off against head coach Todd McLellan‘s first team, the San Jose Sharks, at home on Friday night. The Sharks are also coming in hot with a four-game win streak as they start a mid-month road trip.