Final: Bruins 2, Red Wings 3 (OT) - Backes, youngsters at center in return to Garden

Who: Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings
When: 7 p.m.
Where: TD Garden
TV: NESNplus
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Boxscore: NHL.com

LIVE COVERAGE



OVERTIME

9:40: Brad Marchand, Jake DeBrusk, and Torey Krug start it.

And it's over. Zadina on a one-time at 24 seconds. Halak with no chance on the 2-on-1. GOAL: Red Wings 3, Bruins 2.

THIRD PERIOD

9:38: Halak makes a stop at the buzzer. Sixty minutes aren't enough in this one. Still 2-2.

Shots were 14-6 Detroit in the third period. Bruins have 21(!) giveaways on the night, too.

9:35: Urho Vaakanainen makes a nice move to clear space on the left side, leading to a tip on goal for Daniel Winnik.

9:31: A whistle with 2:51 left in regulation.

Could the Bruins be headed past regulation for the fourth time this preseason? We'll find out after the break!

9:30: Tough shift for Brad Marchand, who turns the puck over right to Luke Glendening for a try all alone in the slot.

9:28: Jussi Jokinen tees one from the right circle. Halak whips the glove out.

9:25: Halak gets the pad on a puck he didn't see after several Red Wings swipes in and around the crease, but David Pastrnak goes for a hook. Dominic Turgeon had the last two, including one that Charlie McAvoy blocked before the save.

9:16: Halak makes a save, then the gloves fly off for John Moore. Trent Frederic looked to get in one, too, but play is stopped.

9:14: Trent Frederic takes a pass from Peter Cehlarik, leading to an open shot from the point.

9:07: Jordan Szwarz gets a clean look at goal that doesn't go before Halak freezes play with an easy stop at the other end. Always feels like a much faster period with a 6-2 Detroit shot advantage and no penalties called.

9:04: Noel Acciari with a big hit along the neutral zone wall. The former Friar always gives the Garden crowd something to cheer about.

8:59: Boston has about a minute of power play time left as the third period begins in a 2-2 draw.

SECOND PERIOD

8:53: Some solid effort defensively from the Bruins with five more blocked shots in the second period, though they gave the puck away four times for a game total of 11.

Also, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson hasn't registered a shot and is 3-7 on faceoffs tonight. You'd like to see more out of a main competitor for that open center spot, especially with who he's playing with in DeBrusk and Heinen. It's a combination that has potential, but the former BU star has been a little quiet.

8:40: Givani Smith to the box for a hook. Nothing on the first 1:06 of power play time, so we're tied at 2-2 after 40 minutes.

8:33: Jake DeBrusk makes a great move to between two Wings defenders get to the front of the net, but Bernier was right on the shooting angle. All pad at the post.

https://twitter.com/NHLGIFs/status/1045110560176701440

8:28: Another quick goal on a power play. Detroit ties it up on a Dennis Cholowski shot from deep. GOAL: Bruins 2, Red Wings 2.

8:27: Lee Stempniak called for a hook, giving Detroit another power play. There have been a lot of positives in this preseason, but they've all been stick penalties for the B's tonight. And 35 penalties on the preseason? Going to need to clean that up.

8:17: Torey Krug called for a high stick. Detroit power play, and a quick response as the B's can't clear from the crease. Gustav Nyquist scores. GOAL: Bruins 2, Red Wings 1.

8:15: That's what you call taking advantage of an opportunity. Libor Sulak is called for his second penalty of the game, and Lee Stempniak buries a laser from the left circle past Bernier five seconds into the power play. GOAL: Bruins 2, Red Wings 0.

https://twitter.com/mkmolnar/status/1045105256995147776

8:11: Still 1-0 Bruins with 13:55 left. Shots still just 2-1 in the period.

8:06: Good things happen when you get the puck to the net. Steven Kampfer flicks one on net from the point just after stepping onto the ice, and David Pastrnak tips it home with a defender right on him. That work in front of the net gave Bernier no chance at stopping that low shot. GOAL: Bruins 1, Red Wings 0.

https://twitter.com/mkmolnar/status/1045103043170238464

8:05: Nothing on the Detroit power play.

8:02: We're underway in the middle period and still looking for a goal.

FIRST PERIOD

7:50: This has been a pretty physical one. Twenty hits between the two teams, four of the Bruins' nine to Brandon Carlo.

Also of note, David Backes was 3-1 on the draw.

7:44: A lot of whistles, five penalties, and no scoring in the first period. Shots 11-10 Detroit, and half of the B's count came from Marchand and Pastrnak.

7:43: B's looked to clear and run out the period clock, but Steven Kapfer is called for hooking with 9.5 seconds left.

7:40: Tyler Bertuzzi gets a backhander on Halak off the faceoff as the Wings begin another power play. Danton Heinen goes for slashing at 17:26.

7:38: A shorthanded break for the Red Wings. Halak stops Dominic Turgeon.

7:34: Boston has the last five shots on goal, and another power play coming up.

7:31: David Backes gets in on Bernier alone, but the save is made. Nothing for the B's on the power play, and it's still 0-0 with less than six minutes to play in the first.

7:29: Bruins to the power play after a too many men call. Despite a six-game point streak, the man-up unit has been a struggle in the preseason at 1-for-23.

The first unit? Marchand, Frederic, Backes, Krug, and Pastrnak.

7:24: Nothing for the Red Wings on the power play, though they established some zone time. Charlie McAvoy collects a bouncing puck and guides it out of the slot to kill the remaining penalty clock. Still 0-0.

7:22: Detroit will go on the power play with 12:48 left in the period. Trent Frederic, who's one of the young guys competing for an open center spot, is called for tripping.

7:17: Dennis Cholowski rips one just wide from the right point. Halak has four saves behind a defense that's having some trouble getting the puck out of the zone. 

7:16: The B's get their first shot on goal more than four minutes into this one. Credit that to Brandon Carlo from the slot, and Jonathan Bernier makes an easy save.

7:13: Detroit gets the first three shots of the game after setting up in the B's zone. Jaroslav Halak gets to the top of his crease and makes a stop on former Maine Black Bear Gustav Nyquist's redirected try.

7:12: David Backes snapped one off wide on the first shift of the game for the B's, but I don't think we've seen a shot on goal yet in this game.

7:08: Puck dropped.

7:00: We're just about set for puck drop at the Garden.

These lines from pregame rushes:

Marchand - Backes - Pastrnak
DeBrusk - JFK - Heinen
Cehlarik - Frederic - Stempniak
Winnik - Szwarz - Acciari

Moore - McAvoy
Krug - Carlo
Vaakanainen - Kampfer

Halak

PREGAME

The Bruins round out the preseason schedule with two games on TD Garden ice, beginning tonight against the Detroit Red Wings.

If the preseason standings are your thing, the Bruins lead the Atlantic Division while Detroit has not dropped a point in its five games to date. The lone blemish on Boston's 5-0-1 record was a 4-3 overtime loss Saturday at Little Caesars Arena, despite two points from both defenseman Steven Kampfer and professional tryout hopeful Lee Stempniak.

Barring any game-time decisions, forward Anders Bjork and defenseman Torey Krug will make their preseason debuts tonight.

The most noticeable change in the B's lineup will be David Backes centering Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Head coach Bruce Cassidy didn't expect giving his rugged veteran a try in the middle, but injuries to Sean Kuraly and others have made it difficult to evaluate combinations with which he might like to go forward.

"We'll give it a whirl and see if being a little lighter, a little more mobile makes me effective there," Backes said. "I'm obviously playing with some pretty good players, so give them the puck, try to make some space and let them do what they do so well."

Cassidy still expects Patrice Bergeron to be ready to start the season after dealing with back spasms at the start of camp, but Backes (or a player like Daniel Winnik, who is also on a PTO) would give the B's a veteran option in the middle if Bergeron was not ready to go one week from tonight when the regular season begins at Washington.

"I don't think it's a bad option in the short-term if we had to go down that road, which I don't think we will," Cassidy said of Backes at center. "We were kind of just spitballing the other day and decided to throw him in there."

This morning's lines:

Marchand - Backes - Pastrnak
DeBrusk - JFK - Heinen
Cehlarik - Frederic - Stempniak
Winnik - Szwarz - Acciari
Donato/Bjork - Krejci - Wagner

Moore - McAvoy
Krug - Carlo
Vaakanainen - Kampfer
Chara - Miller/Grzelcyk