Red Wings' skid continues with 4-1 loss in Boston: 'Our compete wasn't there'

Boston — The Red Wings are definitely slipping away in the wrong direction.

They saw their winless streak extend to three games on Saturday in a 4-1 loss to Boston at TD Garden.

The Wings didn't generate much through two periods and never consistently threatened after the Bruins scored two first-period goals.

BOX SCORE: Bruins 4, Red Wings 1

"A lot of it is our start," forward Andrew Copp said. "We just didn't come out with the right mindset. We responded well, the last couple of games (they've responded) making pushes and coming from behind but we have to get off to a better start and maybe a little more emotion in the game from the get-go."

Joe Veleno gave the Wings hope with his fifth goal midway in the third period. Veleno rushed through the zone and snapped a shot high over Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman (23 saves), cutting Boston's lead to 2-1 at 6 minutes, 40 seconds of the third period.

But the Bruins answered, with David Pastrnak re-establishing the two-goal lead on a penalty shot at 11:19. Pastrnak added his eighth goal, and second of the game, at 17:41 into an empty net to clinch it.

"We just didn't come out and play and our effort and compete wasn't there," Veleno said. "We have to forget about this one."

Boston's Pavel Zacha (power play) and Charlie McAvoy scored in the first period against the skidding the Wings (5-3-1), who are winless in their last three games (0-2-1) with a road game Monday against the New York Islanders.

Goaltender Ville Husso stopped 27 shots and kept the Wings close, but the Wings also couldn't overcome an evening they failed on four power plays. Boston was 1-for-4.

"It just zaps you of emotion," Wings coach Derek Lalonde said of early man-advantage failures. "When we were going good, the power play was fueling our emotions and momentum and tonight it zapped us. I didn't mind our five-on-five game but we didn't have a ton of energy the first two periods. We needed something to spark us and Joe's goal did."

The Bruins (7-0-1) remain without a regulation loss this season.

Zacha drove to the net and put back a rebound of Pastrnak's shot for his second goal at 10:33 of the first period. McAvoy made it 2-0 with his first goal. McAvoy skated down the wing and shoveled a backhander that dribbled into the crease and through Husso, who appeared to believe he had it between his pads.

Lalonde went back to first-period power plays that couldn't convert and sagged the Wings.

"It just zapped us and we got a little frustrated with it and then we forced plays," Lalonde said. "We got away from simple habits on it and we lost some momentum. Conversely they got the one power play but they got a ton of looks and their top guys were touching it and they got momentum off it."

What was disappointing for the Wings was that this was an early-season game they were pointing to against a powerful Boston team that doesn't appear to be slipping from the top of the Atlantic Division.

The Wings have talked about needing to jump up and join the top half of the division, because none of the powerhouses appear to be slipping back to them.

"Eventually if we want to be a real good team in this league we have to be able to play against these guys and especially teams in our division," Veleno said. "If we want to move up in the standings down the road, these will be the games we'll look back on and games we try to get under our belts and get as many points as we can."

Monday's game on Long Island now looms rather large.

It'll end the first 10-game segment of the season and with a victory, 6-3-1 would look much better than 5-4-1 and improve the early chances of looking ahead to the playoffs.

"Six-three-and one puts you in a playoff spot (projecting far ahead), while 5-4-1 you're on your couch," Copp said. "This is where the maturity in the room has to step up and right the ship here. You can't let this go on for too long. You can't let losses stack up."

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

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