BOSTON — Claude Julien asked his Boston Bruins players for more, and that is just what he got Monday night.
“It was pretty obvious tonight that there was a bigger determination and commitment to working hard from start to finish,” the Bruins coach said after his team’s 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. “This is one of hopefully many, and we need to understand that this is how we have to play to be successful.”
Coming off a 6-2 pasting at the hands of the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Saturday night and playing without injured forwards Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic, the Bruins (19-15-3) had a season-high 19 shots in registering their first three-goal first period of the season.
They wound up with 45 shots on goal, their most in a non-overtime game since April 2, 2013.
“That was a great example of how we need to play for pretty much the rest of the season,” said Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. “It’s pretty simple. We had the right attitude and right approach right from the first drop of the puck.”
Chara had three of the 20 shots Boston defensemen put on goal, six of them by Dougie Hamilton, who set up the first goal.
“I think we are in a situation where we are not throwing in the towel. There is half of a season ahead of us but at the same time it’s not something that we want to leave (for) the last month of the season,” Chara said. “We’re approaching it that way right now and it’s going to have to be pretty much that way the rest of the season.”
Right winger Reilly Smith and centers Gregory Campbell and Carl Soderberg all beat Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard in the first 17:25 of the game as the Bruins built a 3-1 lead.
Center Tomas Tatar cut it to 3-2 with a second-period power play goal — Detroit’s seventh power-play score in four games — but rookie right winger Seth Griffith took a pass from center David Krejci and scored a power-play goal 5:11 into the third period. It was Griffith’s first goal in 13 games and sixth of the season.
Left winger Chris Kelly scored into an empty net with 2:26 left.
Soderberg, who scored his seventh goal of the season, and right winger Loui Eriksson both picked up two assists.
After Smith opened the scoring with his ninth goal 2:44 into the game, Detroit left winger Justin Abdelkader backhanded his ninth goal past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask without ever looking at the net. The Bruins then got the Campbell (his fourth, which he scored as the extra attacker during a delayed penalty) and Soderberg goals 1:13 apart.
Rask made 28 stops in raising his career record against Detroit to just 3-5-1. Howard, a former University of Maine star, made 40 saves in falling to 5-2-1 lifetime against the Bruins, 1-1-1 this season.
The win lifted the Bruins to just 5-6-2 in December, their first losing month since February, 2012.
The Red Wings, who had a first-period goal waved off because it was hit with a high stick, saw their two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 2-3-4 in their last nine.
“They won all the battles, all the races. They competed way harder than us,” said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. “I thought as a group, as a coaching staff you pride yourself on preparation and having your team ready, no good. Leadership group, no good. Individually, no good. Not good enough.
“No way. It’s real simple for me, either you’re going to work in the games or you’re going to work in practice. But we’re going to work. That is unacceptable.”
Center Pavel Datsyuk had an assist for Detroit, his 16th point in the last 15 games.
NOTES: The Bruins lost C Patrice Bergeron and LW Milan Lucic to undisclosed injuries Saturday night in Columbus. Both players are considered day-to-day. … C Matt Lindblad was recalled from Providence. LW Matt Fraser, placed on waivers for the purpose of shipping him back to the AHL, was claimed by the Edmonton Oilers. … D Jakub Kindl was out of the Detroit lineup with an injury suffered Sunday in practice. … Detroit started the season 2 of 30 on the power play in its first eight games but are 32 of 110 since. … The Red Wings host the New Jersey Devils and the Bruins play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. … This was the 586th game between the two Original Six teams, the Bruins outscoring the Red Wings 1,761 to 1,754.