Third-period explosion lifts Bruins past Red Wings, 5-1

Thursday's game against Boston was the Red Wings' first real test against a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

If one regular season game can show anything, it showed the Wings still have work to do, losing 5-1 to the Bruins.

It was the second consecutive loss for the Wings (3-2-2), who opened the season five games without a regulation time loss.

The game turned early in the third period. The Wings only trailed 2-1 after two periods, thanks to Adam Erne's late second period goal, but the Bruins scored three goals (two on power play) in a span of 1 minute, 39 seconds to make it 5-1.

"The third period, you kind of saw a little bit of experience on that side versus a little bit of inexperience on our side," said defenseman Ben Chiarot to Bally Sports Detroit. "Just making better plays under pressure. They're a real good team and we're trying to work our way up to that."

Coach Derek Lalonde viewed Thursday's game in Boston as an "exciting challenge" against one of the NHL's best teams.

The Wings were coming off a sub-par game Tuesday, an ugly 6-2 home loss to New Jersey, and had yet to face one of the NHL's elite teams.

BOX SCORE: Bruins 5, Red Wings 1

Except for the third period collapse, the Wings held their own.

"Obviously special teams, the penalty kill (in the third period), it's too bad the game got away from us because we did a lot of good things in the first and second (periods)," Lalonde told BSD. "We got within a goal there, and in the third, you put that team on the power play so much, that's going to hurt you."

Boston forward Brad Marchand, making his season debut after off-season hip surgery, scored two power-play goals and had an assist.

Erne gave the Wings hope with his second goal, late in the second period.

Filip Hronek had his shot blocked, but the puck slid to Erne, who simply wheeled and threw the puck at the net and beating goaltender Jeremy Swayman.

Charlie Coyle, Craig Smith and David Pastrnak (power play) added Bruins goals, while Swayman had 27 saves and was crucial early with some key stops.

It was Marchand (power play), Smith and Pastrnak (power play) who supplied the third period surge against under-siege goaltender Ville Husso (27 saves) completely turning the game around.

"A little bit self-inflicted," said Chiarot of the Boston surge. "You can't take penalties against a power play like that, that's been one of the best in the league for a long time. Against a team like that, you can't put them on the power play and get their top guys feeling good and touching the puck.

"It's not a recipe for success."

Many analysts felt the Bruins (7-1-0) would be a prime contender to slip in the standings with Marchand and defenseman Charlie McAvoy (shoulder) unavailable early in the season and age beginning to creep onto the roster.

But the Bruins have looked formidable.

"They're heavy, they're deep," Lalonde said. "(Patrice) Bergeron is going to be a Hall of Famer, he’s an absolute superstar. When you’re a really good team, bordering on a great team, with a great culture, yes, they didn’t get the memo (of sliding in the standings). That doesn’t surprise me. That's a special team. They play the right way. That's what we're trying to get with this organization."

Swayman turned aside at least four quality Wings scoring chances through 40 minutes, and the Wings stifled Boston in the second period. But the third period penalty kill collapse was too much to overcome.

"We didn't give up a single five-on-five scoring chance against in the second period, and that's unheard of in this league," Lalonde said. "So, it's a positive hopefully we can build on. With that said, we need more consistency throughout our entire game."

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tkulfan