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Bruins scratch out OT win, push Red Wings to brink

Boston Bruins v Detroit Red Wings - Game Four

DETROIT, MI - APRIL 24: of Game Four of the First Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Joe Louis Arena on April 24, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

Gregory Shamus

The Boston Bruins fought back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in OT in Game 4 on Thursday, pushing the Detroit Red Wings to the brink of elimination with a 3-1 series score.

Niklas Kronwall and Pavel Datsyuk combined for one-goal, one-assist nights to give the Red Wings a lead that Boston was able to scrape away. Torey Krug’s power-play goal in the middle frame helped the Bruins enter the third period down a manageable 2-1. Carl Soderberg’s nice play set up a Milan Lucic tying goal that sent the game into overtime.

The Bruins pressed the Red Wings repeatedly in the overtime period, generating a 12-3 shot advantage in that time. It was a weird one that beat Jonas Gustavsson in a surprise start, as a Dougie Hamilton shot took a weird bounce and the goal was credited to Jarome Iginla (his first goal of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs).

Comic relief?

For those who don’t appreciate the pesky style of Brad Marchand, he had some tough luck on Thursday. At least one of the shots probably missed the net because of Jimmy Howard/bounces off of other players’ sticks, yet this montage will still be pretty sweet for Marchand haters:

The Bruins can probably laugh that off thanks to their eventual win, though.

Looking forward

Boston is now looking like a serious force in winning three straight games, including both contests at Joe Louis Arena. They have some serious incentive to finish this series off in Boston in Game 5, as the Montreal Canadiens are already awaiting their second-round opponent after sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Meanwhile, the Red Wings find themselves one game away from another first-round exit despite showing some fight on Thursday night. The bad news (they’ve been surprisingly mortal in “Hockeytown”) is softened a bit by the good: they’ve been formidable on the road this season. They took Game 1 in Boston and went 21-15-5 in away games during the regular season.

It won’t be easy, but the Red Wings have been doing things the hard way this season.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins