Fabbri scores twice in Red Wings debut to defeat Bruins

DETROIT -- Robby Fabbri scored twice in his Detroit Red Wings debut, and goalie Jonathan Bernier had two assists in a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

"It definitely helps my confidence to come in and help the boys win," said Fabbri, who was acquired from the St. Louis Blues in a trade for forward Jacob de la Rose on Wednesday. "That's what I'm going to be trying to do here."
Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha scored for Detroit (5-12-1), which ended a four-game losing streak. The Red Wings had gone 1-11-1 since starting the season with three wins in four games.
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Red Wings highlights]
Bernier, who made 26 saves, was the first Red Wings goalie to have two assists in a game since Jim Rutherford did it on Feb. 18, 1979, in a 6-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tuukka Rask of the Bruins was the last NHL goalie to have two assists in a game, in a 4-1 win at the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 17, 2016.
"Someone just told me I have seven (career) points now, which I didn't even know," said Bernier, who had never had two assists in a season.
David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron scored for Boston (11-3-2). David Pastrnak's 13-game point streak ended when a scoring change took away an assist on Boston's second goal.
Rask made 28 saves for the Bruins, who have lost two straight after a six-game winning streak.
"We just didn't have enough energy tonight," Krug said. "It showed up late in the second, but we couldn't get over the hump."
Fabbri scored two power-play goals on passes from Tyler Bertuzzi, his junior teammate for three seasons with Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League.
"It was a lot of fun to play with [Bertuzzi] back then, and tonight brought back all of those memories," he said.

Krejci took advantage of a Red Wings turnover to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 1:09 of the first period. Larkin made it 1-1 at 2:41 when his wraparound attempt went in off Bergeron's skate. Bernier was credited with the secondary assist.
"Getting that quick answer from Larkin was a huge, huge thing," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "That lets us play our game without having to chase down a lead against one of the best teams in the League."
Fabbri made it 2-1 at 11:49, slapping home Bertuzzi's pass for his second goal of the season. He scored his second power-play goal of the night at 1:30 of the second period, one-timing another pass from Bertuzzi to give the Red Wings a 3-1 lead.
"It felt great to play with [Fabbri] again and get that old connection going," Bertuzzi said. "He was a great shooter in junior and he just won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis, so I think he's going to be great for us."
Bergeron deflected Krug's shot past Bernier for a power-play goal that made it 3-2 at 17:52 of the second period.

The Bruins nearly tied the game at 18:53, but Bernier made a point-blank glove save on Pastrnak, who also hit the crossbar at 5:29 of the third period.
"The puck kind of went through everyone's legs and I knew he was there," Bernier said. "I was going to be late getting across so I just tried to cover as much of the net as I could, and I got the glove on it."
Cassidy said he thought the save gave the Red Wings a boost going into the third period.
"I don't think it deflated us as much as it inflated them," he said. "Instead of going into the intermission with a tie, they knew their goalie was making saves and they had a chance to close out the game."
Mantha scored his 10th goal into an empty net at 18:32, with Bernier getting his second assist.

They said it

"We took three penalties in the offensive zone and put one puck over the glass, so we definitely weren't on our game tonight. You can't take penalties 200 feet from your net. Maybe one, but not three." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
"I think we came into this game last in the League in shooting percentage and three points below the League average. Robby [Fabbri] looks like a guy who can score and we know that he's been very good on the power play in the past. We gave him an opportunity and he did a great job. We're not expecting two goals every night, but he played hard and did the things he needs to do." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on forward Robby Fabbri

Need to know

Pastrnak shares the NHL scoring lead with Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers; each has 30 points. … Fabbri's last multigoal game was a hat trick for St. Louis in a 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 28, 2016.

What's next

Bruins:Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NESN, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; FS-D, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)