Red Wings win battle of struggling teams by edging Bruins

Marco Kasper scored an unassisted goal in the first period and the host Detroit Red Wings edged the slumping Boston Bruins 2-1 on Saturday night.

Lucas Raymond had the other Detroit goal while Cam Talbot made 20 saves.

Morgan Geekie had the only Boston goal and Jeremy Swayman stopped 20 shots.

The Bruins (30-35-9, 69 points) have lost eight straight and 16 of their last 19. It's the longest slide for the Bruins since the 2009-10 season.

The Red Wings (34-33-6, 74 points) won for just the fourth time in their last 15 games.

The game got off to a chippy start with two fights in the first 2:01. Kasper scored the only goal of the period. He stole the puck in the neutral zone, skated to the left circle and beat Swayman on the glove side.

Detroit entered the second period with a lead for the first time in seven games.

The Red Wings scored a power-play goal in the first minute of the second period. Raymond one-timed a shot from the left circle off a feed from Moritz Seider. The puck snuck inside the crossbar. Patrick Kane picked up the second assist on Raymond's 26th goal this season.

Kasper committed a penalty less than a minute later and the Bruins cashed in on their power play. Geekie redirected a David Pastrnak shot through Talbot's legs. Mason Lohrei had the other assist on Geekie's 27th.

Detroit had another power play late in the period but couldn't convert. The Red Wings also had another power play early in the third but still couldn't extend their lead.

Boston didn't have a shot on goal in the third period until Talbot made a stop against Nikita Zadorov with 5:54 remaining.

Talbot clinched the victory with a glove side against Casey Mittelstadt with 12 seconds remaining.

The Bruins won the first two meetings this season. They recorded a 2-1 triumph in Detroit on Nov. 23 and notched a 3-2 overtime decision in Boston on Dec. 3.

--Field Level Media