Coming off rare loss, Bruins visit reeling Red Wings

As the Boston Bruins travel to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Friday night, they find themselves in unfamiliar territory.

For just the second time across their first 16 games, the Bruins will be looking to rebound from a regulation loss. Boston fell 5-4 to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday in controversial fashion, snapping a six-game winning streak and marking the first time the team has failed to gain a point from a contest since Oct 10.

The Red Wings, meanwhile, are the worst team in the league, with four straight losses and defeats in 12 of their last 13, all but one in regulation.

Though the Bruins are a clear favorite -- their league-leading plus-20 goal differential dwarfs the Red Wings' league-worst minus-33 -- Boston can't help but feel outside factors might be working against them. The loss to the Canadiens was marred by a lengthy video review that overturned what would have been a go-ahead goal in the third period, when it determined Charlie Coyle was offsides on the play.

Montreal seized momentum and took the lead for good with 10:54 to go. For the Bruins, it was a flashback to their only other regulation loss, when they had two goals disallowed by replay review in a 4-2 setback against the Colorado Avalanche.

"Some are gonna go your way, some aren't -- ours are not going our way lately, but I assume they will straighten out over the course of time," said Boston coach Bruce Cassidy of challenge calls. "But the rule was put in place specifically for egregious plays. They're over there for three minutes. You think, well, what is the purpose of this rule? Either you find something or you don't."

The Bruins had come back from 3-1 down in the contest. David Pastrnak scored his 15th goal to extend his career-long points streak to 13 games, while Brad Marchand was held off the score sheet for the first time in 13 games.

The Red Wings are desperate for that kind of production, having been held to two goals or fewer 10 times in their last 13 games after scoring four or more three times amid a 3-1-0 start.

Detroit's latest setback came at the hands of the New York Rangers on Wednesday. The Red Wings gave up three goals in less than a five-minute span in the second period in an eventual 5-1 loss.

"It's frustrating right now," said Red Wings alternate captain Dylan Larkin. "It's tough to try and find an answer when it's night after night. We've tried different things, different lineups, special teams tonight. It seems like it's a different story every night. We can't really seem to generate a full 60 minutes, a complete game."

Friday's Boston-Detroit tilt marks the first of four between the Atlantic Division rivals this season. The Red Wings won three of their four meetings last season, one in overtime.

After its loss to New York on Wednesday, Detroit acquired forward Robby Fabbri from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Jacob de la Rose. Fabbri has scored once in nine games this season.

--Field Level Media