Volatile goaltending and crucial counterattacks secure a high-scoring victory for the Ducks despite strong Bruins pressure.
The third stop on the Anaheim Ducks’ five-game October road trip took them north to face the struggling Boston Bruins on Thursday evening.
The Ducks were coming off perhaps their most complete defensive performance in Tuesday’s win against the Nashville Predators.
The Bruins were hoping to snap a five-game losing streak after starting the season 3-0-0.
The Ducks remained without Chris Kreider, who has now missed the last two games with an illness. They iced the exact lineup as on Tuesday.
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Boston remained without former Anaheim Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who sustained an undisclosed injury in Boston’s second game of the season and has only played three in total.
The Ducks turned to Petr Mrazek in net for this game, who got his second start of the season and saved 36 of 41 shots.
Mrazek faced Joonas Korpisalo in Boston’s crease, who stopped 23 of 29.
Radko Gudas was forced from this game in the first period with a lower-body injury and is listed as “day-to-day” after a collision sent him into the corner board.
Here are my notes on this game:
Boston played like the more desperate team, dominating possession numbers, especially in the first period, with tenacious efforts to pounce on loose pucks and win corner/wall battles after shots were taken to keep plays alive. The Ducks weathered the Bruins’ storm and capitalized on effective counterattacks, aided by questionable goaltending at the other end.
Petr Mrazek-Mrazek plays an unorthodox and unpredictable style. He’s deep on shots where it seems like he should challenge, and challenges when it seems like he should retreat. He relies on athleticism more than an average NHL goaltender, and his rebound control is volatile: sometimes decent, sometimes very poor. He fought through a lot of traffic in this game.
Nikita Nesterenko-Scoresheet aside, this was Nesterenko’s best game as an NHL player. With an opportunity to play alongside producing veterans like Troy Terry and Mikael Granlund, Nesterenko displayed new layers of spatial awareness and a willingness and confidence to hold onto pucks longer in tight areas to draw attention and pressure.
He was a relentless F1 in this game, surprising puck retrievers by taking away time and space to make decisions before influencing outlet attempts with a long, disruptive stick and finishing hits along the walls.
Beckett Sennecke-Sennecke seemed to have the puck on his stick more than at any point thus far in his first six games. There appeared to be a concerted effort from him to impact the game with his natural skill rather than simplifying to a less effective result.
He kept his feet moving with the puck on his stick while cycling, and in the neutral zone, he found open lanes for outlets he could receive with speed to ignite rush chances and attempted some of his trademark dangles against several Boston defenders.
The most surprising aspect of his early returns is his willingness to get to the inside and battle for positioning in front of the opposing net when the puck is on the perimeter and win ensuing corner battles after shots are taken. He brings more of those “Chris Kreider” elements than surely expected.
Power Play-Boston didn’t pressure as heavily as the Ducks’ most recent opponents, allowing them to set up their umbrella for longer stretches. However, even with more pucks on their sticks in space, the Ducks’ top unit didn’t display their previous creativity and mobility, reverting to a more stationary setup.
The lack of Kreider’s presence may have been a factor, though Frank Vatrano put forth a respectable effort filling in, especially when it came to winning battles below the goal line.
The Ducks will next head to the state of Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon, another team desperate for a win after failing to register one in their last four.
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