The Detroit Red Wings scored a pair of goals in the second and third periods Saturday night, and Jimmy Howard stopped 38 shots as Detroit beat the Boston Bruins 4-2 at TD Garden.
David Backes and Ryan Donato had the Bruins goals, as Backes had given Boston a 1-0 lead in the first on his marker, and Donato had tied the game in the third on the powerplay. Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin had the second period goals for Detroit (12-11-3), while Frans Neilsen had the game winner and former Maine Black Bear Gustav Nyquist added a late insurance goal.
Tuuka Rask stopped 23 of 26 shots in the loss for the Bruins, who fall to 14-8-4. Detroit was 1-4 on the powerplay, while Boston was 1-6. Boston will visit Florida to battle the Panthers Tuesday night at 7 pm.
At the Target Center in Minneapolis, Gordon Hayward had his best game in a Celtics uniform with 30 points to lead Boston to a 118-109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Boston (13-10) who trailed by seven early in the game took the lead on an Al Horford three pointer at 23-22 in the first quarter with a 14-6 run. After the Wolves regained a second quarter lead, Jayson Tatum put the Celtics back up on top with a three pointer and the visitors never trailed again. Boston build the lead to as many as 14 in the second and led by nine at the break. Minnesota (11-12) made one more run in the fourth scoring 10 straight points to tie things up 89-89. Hayward and company took over, as Hayward would score 11 of the final 13 Celtic points in the game as Boston won their third straight game and snapped the Wolves four game win streak.
Hayward added nine rebounds, eight assists, and two steals. Kyrie Irving had 21 points and nine assists. Also scoring in double figures was Tatum with 19, Marcus Morris 16, and Horford with 15 points. Derrick Rose had 26 points and four assists for Minnesota. Karl-Anthony Townes had 20 points and nine rebounds, while Andrew Wiggins and Robert Covington had 17 points a piece. Boston will look to avenge a loss to the Knicks, when New York visits TD Garden Thursday at 8 pm.
