Nedeljkovic makes 47 saves, Red Wings rally past Bruins

Alex Nedeljkovic made 47 saves and had an assist for the Detroit Red Wings in a 5-3 win against the Boston Bruins at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Tuesday.

"One of the critical things in this league is having a goaltender who makes big saves for you at critical times, and [Nedeljkovic] certainly did that tonight," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "He was especially big on the penalty kill tonight, and I thought that got us some momentum in the second period."
Jakub Vrana had a goal and an assist for Detroit (27-34-9), which had lost six in a row (0-4-2).
"This was big for us," Vrana said. "We put in some of our chances, we played pretty well defensively and [Nedeljkovic] was great."
Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist for the Bruins (44-21-5), who were 0-for-4 on the power play and remained tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division. Taylor Hall had two assists, and Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves.

Boston had won three in row, including 3-2 in overtime at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
"We just made some mistakes we couldn't overcome," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Erik Haula gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 4:43 of the first period with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.
Brandon Carlo made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal at 14:17, but Dylan Larkin cut it to 2-1 at 19:20 with his 30th goal of the season.
"I wasn't happy with myself on the shorthanded goal, so I wanted to get one back," Larkin said. "[Oskar Sundqvist] gave me a great screen and I was able to flick one in. That was huge, keeping from us going into the locker room down 2-0."
Michael Rasmussen tied it 2-2 at 5:46 of the second period, knocking a loose puck past Swayman, and Filip Zadina gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead at 8:28 on a one-timer from Vrana.
"I think the late goal in the first gave them some juice going into the room, and that's something we have to clean up," Carlo said. "It's not an issue as long as we stay dialed in and keep on top of things, but we got off our game a little bit in the second period and they took advantage of it."
Vrana made it 4-2 with a power-play goal at 4:08 of the third period. Vrana, who missed the first 56 games this season after shoulder surgery, has eight goals in 14 games.
"He has an elite, elite ability to score," Blashill said. "I just think his all-around game needs to get better, and he and I have had a lot of conversations about that. But he scores in tight spaces as well as anyone I've been around."

Bergeron scored on deflection at 17:24 with Swayman pulled for an extra attacker to make it 4-3, but Nedeljkovic's long pass set up Sam Gagner for an empty-net goal with 47 seconds left for the 5-3 final.
"They got it to one, but [Nedeljkovic] made a great play to get [Gagner] the puck to get us back in front by two," Larkin said. "That let us finish it off."
Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm left the game in the second period because of a lower-body injury.
"It didn't seem serious, but he didn't come back, so that usually means there's going to be an X-ray or an MRI involved," Cassidy said. "So, we won't know until we get all that information."
NOTES: His 47 saves were an NHL career high for Nedeljkovic. The Red Wings hadn't won in regulation when allowing 50 shots since Jimmy Howard made 51 saves in a 2-1 victory at the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 7, 2010. … Haula has four goals in his past four games. … Boston forward Jake DeBrusk had his goal streak end at five games. He finished with two shots in 18:51 of ice time. … Bergeron has 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 35 career games against Detroit. … Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy has an assist in six straight games.