Today at 3:00 p.m. ET, the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins faceoff for Game 5 of their best-of-seven Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series live from the TD Garden in Boston. The game can be live streamed for free here. Detroit fans can hear all of the action on 97.1 The Ticket while Boston fans can do the same on WBZ 1030.
Detroit looks to start digging its way out a two-game deficit and avoid elimination while Boston hopes to clinch on home ice and become just the second team to advance to the second round thus far.
The Red Wings won Game 1 at the TD Garden 1-0 before losing Game 2 by a score of 4-1 and then losing Games 3 and 4 at home by 3-0 and 3-2 margins respectively, with the last Bruins win coming in overtime. Boston leads the series three games to one.
Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg made his return to the lineup for the first time in 30 games in Game 4 after a back injury sidelined him, and while his team ultimately lost Game 4, the captain believed they played well enough to win.
"I think it was a step forward though from the last two games," Zetterberg told NHL.com. "It's a good team that we're playing. We knew it was going to be tight. Not surprising that the game went to overtime and it's a one-shot game there in the end. Unfortunately, they got it."
The Bruins were up on the Toronto Maple Leafs three games to one in last year's playoffs, but the Leafs powered back to force a Game 7 that Boston ultimately won en route to making an eventual appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Jarome Iginla scored the overtime winner for Boston in Game 4 and wasn't on the team when it almost coughed up a 3-1 series lead last year, but he knows Detroit will be coming out strong.
"Being up now, we want to close it out," Iginla said via NHL.com. There are no questions. We don't doubt that they're not going to come out really hard next game and we want to use some of that momentum. Actually, funny part about playoffs, there isn't as much momentum. It's just game by game. And we'll prepare and we want to be better in the first half than we were tonight."
Iginla and defensemen Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton are each tied for second on the Bruins with three points off of a goal and two assist while Patrice Bergeron paces the team with four points off of a tally and three helpers.
The Red Wings have scored just four goals in the series with Pavel Datsyuk (2-1--3), Niklas Kronwall (1-1--2) and Luke Glendening (1-0--1) being the only three players to find the back of the net thus far against Boston.
Boston netminder Tuukka Rask has proven why he's a Vezina Trophy finalist in this series, allowing just the four goals while stopping 115 shots. With Jimmy Howard (flu) sidelined for the second straight game, Jonas Gustavsson will man the crease for Detroit. He filled in nicely in Game 4, allowing three goals on 40 shots before allowing the game-winner to Iginla.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue this afternoon when the Red Wings and Bruins take the ice at the TD Garden in Boston for Game 5 of their best-of-seven series.
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
