Mike-Babcock-4-22-14

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock couldn't believe what he saw from his team, especially in the first period.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock could have accepted Tuesday’s loss to the Boston Bruins had his team started on time, played hard and fast, displayed energy and gave the best team in the NHL a tough battle.

That didn’t happen. The Bruins dominated the first period, jumping out to a two-goal lead, and kept the Red Wings at arm’s length the rest of the way.

Boston flexed its muscles in a 3-0 Game 3 victory at Joe Louis Arena, taking a 2-1 lead in the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. It left Babcock disappointed – not only in the result but the performance.

“I don’t think there’s ever anything wrong with losing when you maximize your group and did everything you could,” Babcock said. “That’s why that’s disappointing to me. We’ve been a way better team than that. That’s unacceptable. And that’s not taking away anything from the Bruins.

“I thought we looked like kids tonight for sure, no question about it.”

The Bruins outshot the Red Wings 34-23 and kept them on the outside.

Detroit has scored only two goals in three games against Tuukka Rask. Its power play went 0-for-3 and is 0-for-9 in the series, managing only seven shots.

“I thought we played a good Game 1 (1-0 win); they’ve responded since that time,” Babcock said. “We’ve had no push back.

“I wasn’t as disappointed with our game in Boston (4-1 loss in Game 2), I knew they were going to push. But I was disappointed with tonight. We didn’t do a good enough job, whether that be as a coaching staff we didn’t have them settled down enough, whether we didn’t have enough players digging in. When you go through the whole thing, hard to find guys out there.”

Young players who flourished this season, helping the Red Wings reach the playoffs – like Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan and Tomas Jurco – aren’t finding as much space in the postseason.

“We didn’t put a lot of pressure on Tuukka,” Howard said. We got to find a way to generate in the middle of the ice. Right now I think in this series they’re doing a great job of controlling the middle.”

Said David Legwand: “We got to get inside and create more at their net.”

Easier said than done against this big, physical team. The Red Wings figured to have a speed advantage, and it showed in the first game, but the Bruins have played fast since then, doing a good job of moving the puck.

“They’re a veteran team, they’ve been in situations playing with a lead,” Howard said. “They played in the Stanley Cup Finals last year. They know what they’re doing out there.”

The Red Wings better figure out what to do – and do it fast.