Bruins 5, Red Wings 2 – The Boston Bruins propelled past the Red Wings in a key Atlantic Division game on Thursday night.
The Red Wings will need to beat the New York Rangers on Saturday or hope the Bruins lose to the Ottawa Senators in their final game for Detroit to clinch the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
Detroit can also clinch a wild card spot with two Philadelphia Flyer losses over the weekend.
The Bruins were led by Torey Krug with a goal and two assists, while Loui Eriksson and Brad Marchand each chipped in with a goal and an assist.
Alexei Marchenko paced the Red Wings with a goal and an assist while Andreas Athanasiou added a goal.
The Red Wings are now 41-29-11 on the season, good for 93 points and a third place tie in the Atlantic Division with one game remaining.
Detroit will close its regular season on Saturday afternoon on the road against the Rangers.
Record: 41-29-11 93 pts
Tied for 3rd Place in Atlantic Division (8 pts behind Florida)
Tied for 7th Place in Eastern Conference (25 pts behind Washington)
Tied with Boston for final Atlantic Division playoff spot & 1 point ahead of Philadelphia for final playoff spot.
Magic # to clinch 25th straight playoff berth: 2 pts
Misery # towards elimination from a playoff berth: 4 pts
Eliminated from Central Division and Eastern Conference title contention
Next Game: 04/09/2016 @ New York Rangers 12:30 p.m. @ Madison Square Garden
Stats: Goals- Alexey Marchenko (3), Andreas Athanasiou (9). Assists- Marchenko (10), Gustav Nyquist (26), Kyle Quincey (7), Henrik Zetterberg (36). Goaltender- Jimmy Howard L (14-13-5) 21 saves on 26 shots.
