Live professional sporting games are fun and intense events to attend, and Monday night’s hockey game at TD Garden was no exception. The Boston Bruins played their fifth preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings, but fell to the visiting team with a final score of 3-1 in their first pre-season loss. This outcome differed from last Saturday’s result at the Red Wings’ Joe Louis Arena, where the Bruins won the previous match-up 4-3 in overtime.
Though the game was scoreless in the first period, one Detroit goal came from Drew Miller at the seven minute mark of the second period and another ten minutes in from Tomas Jurco. Andreas Athanasiou also scored a goal within the first minute of the third period. The Red Wings’ goaltender, Jimmy Howard, had a strong game with 31 saves. This ourcome solidifies a promising pre-season so far for the away team as the Red Wings’ new head coach, Jeff Blashill, has guided the Red Wings to no regulation losses yet. In the Red Wings five games so far, they won three games and lost two in overtime, including one against the Bruins.
Though the Bruins have played more veteran teams while the Red Wings have taken on more rookie teams in their lineups on Monday, Claude Julien, the Bruins coach, changed the lineup throughout the game to give rookie players more exposure and experience. Tuukka Rask, the starting goaltender for the Bruins, also returned to the rink after sitting out the first four preseason games and had 21 saves. Detroit was about to shutout Boston until Loui Eriksson scored a power play goal, assisted by Torey Krug and Colin Miller, with 50.7 seconds remaining in the game. The only Bruins goal did not come easily as they did not capitalize on their four other power play chances throughout the game.
The Bruins’ offense, led by the line of Eriksson, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, struggled early in the game with staying onside. Though Monday night’s game did not appear to be as close of a game in score when compared to the match-up two days earlier in Detroit, this match was still an action-packed game as the Bruins had 25 hits, more than the Red Wings’ 16. The Bruins also won 31 out of the 54 face-offs in the game.
Both Bruins and Red Wings fans got to see more than just hockey action from the players as tensions arose between the opposing teams and things were heated up several times during the game. David Pastrnak, a young right winger and a big part of the Bruins’ offense, got into a scuffle with Red Wings’ defenseman Brian Lashoff. With four minutes left in the 3rd period, Lashoff appeared to hit Pastrknak in the mouth with his stick and when the penalty went uncalled, the fans were in an uproar. The match-up between these two teams of the Original Six was relatively physical, especially for a preseason game with less stakes.
Despite a minor scuffle, Wellesley students, like Shaina Ma ’18, who were present at the game spoke positively of their experience at the game.
“It was my first hockey game and I had a brilliant time! Cheers to great company, hot dogs and aggression on ice,” Ma said.
TD Garden, also known as The Garden, was lively and very loud on a Monday night with Bruins fans excited to see their team play at home. Home to the Bruins and the Celtics and the host of approximately 200 public events each year, The Garden is an arena with great historical and cultural significance.
Students present were able to compare The Garden with other similar venues, expressing how the Boston stadium was more spacious and well-kept.
“This arena is so cool and felt extremely spacious. I remember being in the Joe Louis arena one time and the ceiling just started to leak all over a bunch of fans,” Zachary Youkhana, an MIT student who attended the game, said. “Also, the hallways at the Joe are narrower and more crowded than the hallways here.”
The Boston Bruins will play their remaining two preseason games on the road, against the New York Rangers on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and Washington Capitals on Friday, Oct. 2.
Photo by Ivy Jiang ’18, Sports & Wellness Editor
Ivy Jiang ’18 is the Sports & Wellness Editor who is majoring in Economics. When she is not studying, she is probably following the NBA, reading, watching emotional films, eating or leisurely exercising. Feel free to contact her at ijiang@wellesley.edu.