Detroit rallies to force overtime, wins in shootout

D E T R O I T — T h o m a s Vanek and Frans Nielsen scored in the shootout, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a comeback 6-5 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.

The Red Wings rallied from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits in the first period, and with 3:04 remaining in regulation, Gustav Nyquist scored to pull them into a tie.

In the shootout, Tuukka R a s k a n d P e t r M r a z e k stopped the first shots they faced before Vanek scored for the Red Wings and Brad Marchand countered with a goal for the Bruins. Nielsen, who like Vanek joined the team last summer as a free agent, scored on the team’s third attempt and Frank Vatrano missed the net with a chance to extend the one-on-one duels.

The Bruins were dominant early before blowing a chance to keep Detroit at a distance in the Atlantic Division standings.

Detroit’s Jared Coreau was pulled 5:13 into the game after giving up three goals on eight shots and was replaced by Mrazek, who played well enough to keep his team in the game. Mrazek finished with 23 saves in a performance that might give him a much-needed boost of confidence.

Vatrano scored twice within the first nine minutes as Boston built a three-goal lead. Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists in the opening period, helping the Bruins restore their three-goal cushion.

Detroit’s Xavier Ouellet, Tomas Tatar and Andreas Athanasiou scored to tie it, but 21 seconds later Adam McQuaid’s go-ahead goal gave Boston the lead again with five-plus minutes left in the period.

Rask made 20 saves for the Bruins, who were coming off a 4-0 loss at home to the New York Islanders in which their top goaltender was benched after giving up three goals over the first two periods.

The Bruins were aggressive early and it paid off with Vatrano’s goal 44 seconds after the first puck was dropped. Brandon Carlo scored less than two minutes later and Vatrano scored a season-high second goal at the 8:50 mark of the first period.

The lead, though, wasn’t large enough against a team that rallied from a two-goal deficit to rout Pittsburgh 6-3 and shut out Atlantic-leading Montreal 1-0.

Around the boards

Boston defenseman Kevan Miller missed his second straight game with a concussion and defenseman Colin Miller was out for a fourth consecutive game with a lower-body injury. ... The Red Wings are hopeful forward Darren Helm will return in the next game or two after being out for more than two months with a shoulder injury.

Weight weighs in

Doug Weight knows it won’t be easy for the New York Islanders to get back in the playoff race, but the interim coach is preaching a simple approach in taking it one game at a time with half the season remaining.

Coming off their second straight 100-point season and the franchise’s first playoff series win in 23 years, the Islanders stumbled from the start of this season. Despite some brief stretches of good play, they sit last in the Eastern Conference at 17-17-8 and the inconsistency cost coach Jack Capuano his job on Tuesday.

“We have 40 games left,” Weight said Wednesday after the Islanders’ first practice since the coaching change. “We believe in what we can do on the ice. It’s not like there’s just 20 games left and we have to win 19 of them.”

The Islanders are just eight points out of the second wildcard spot in the East, and they have played fewer games than almost every team ahead of them.

Captain John Tavares said the team’s focus remains on “trying to get better each and every day.”

“Certainly any time a coaching change is made, that sends a pretty strong message of how we haven’t played up to our standard,” he said. “We just got to find some more consistency and build on some of the things Dougie is preaching and go from there. Just one game at a time, and try to get better.”

Weight spent the last three seasons of his playing career with the Islanders before retiring in 2011 and joining the team as an executive and coach.