Ducks Can’t Hang With Bruins

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Boston Bruins as they continued their homestand. John Gibson was in net against Jeremy Swayman. Ducks went with the 11 forward and 7 defensemen lineup or as some call it the 7-11 lineup.

Recap

The Bruins got on the board early in this one as David Pastrnak scored just under four minutes in.

The Ducks then appeared to tie up the game when Trevor Zegras scored from the slot, but the net was knocked off its mooring. The refs deemed it was not a good goal as a result.

Instead of being a tie game, David Krejci would then score and the Ducks found themselves down 2-0 halfway through the opening period.

The Ducks did strike back with a goal by Zegras that counted this time. He one timed a pass at the right face-off dot which beat Swayman stick side.

The Ducks did finish the first period on the power play and it carried over in the beginning of the second period, but Anaheim didn’t cash in.

Boston went on a power play just over the halfway mark of the second period and Pastrnak scored his second of the game to make it a 3-1 lead. He then beat Gibson 17 seconds later on the next sequence to make it a 4-1 contest.

The Ducks got another power play before the second period was over, but again couldn’t convert with the man advantage.

In the third period Boston continued to attack and Brad Marchand scored six minutes in to make it a 5-1 game. Former Duck Hampus Lindholm even got in on the scoring as he beat Gibson with just over eight minutes left in the game. The Bruins added one more goal and the final score ended up being 7-1 in favor of Boston.

Analysis:

The Ducks were able to hang with the league’s best team for one period, but that was it. After the first period it was all Boston thanks in large part to Pastrnak, who scored a hat trick in about 32 minutes of playing time. The Ducks were down 4-1 at that point in the game and could never recover. Anaheim made several mistakes early on and it cost them a few goals.

The Ducks ended up with 29 shots on goal to 42 for the Bruins. Boston was able to do a solid job of clogging up the shooting lanes as they posted 22 blocked shots on the night. Both teams had two power play chances, with Boston converting once and the Ducks were unable to score with this man advantages.

The Bruins hold the best record in the league and the Ducks are currently in the 30th spot . This game showed exactly why both teams are where they are in the standings.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday at 7 PM.

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January 8th, 2023