Telepeer

Ducks fall to Bruins after late rally

October 23, 2023

Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle, right, and Anaheim Ducks right wing Brett Leason, left, vie for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) stands as teammates skate around before an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Anaheim Ducks right wing Brett Leason, front right, collides with Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm, left, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, center, collides with Boston Bruins left wing Jake DeBrusk during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic, left, and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe vie for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, left, controls the puck as Anaheim Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov chases during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Strome, right, controls the puck as Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak chases during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish chases down the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Boston Bruins center Matthew Poitras, left, celebrates his goal with the bench during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Boston Bruins center Matthew Poitras, right, celebrates with goaltender Linus Ullmark after the team’s win against the Anaheim Ducks in an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Expand

ANAHEIM –– If fans were looking for an explosive night from No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson as part of a high-scoring affair Sunday at Honda Center, they might have been disappointed, as Carlsson sat out the Ducks’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.

But if they were looking for clear signs of progress from a young club burgeoning with promise, the Ducks gave them plenty to smile about, even as Carlsson got comfortable in the press box as part of a planned absence.

It was the sort of workload management the Ducks had plotted for him in early-season situations like they faced Sunday, when they were playing the second half of a back-to-back set after a 2-1 loss in Arizona Saturday. They also have envisioned more stifling defensive efforts, like they turned in this weekend and throughout the early going of the 2023-24 campaign.

The Ducks were an empty-net goal allowed away from having ceded two goals or fewer in three straight games, something they did only once in all of the 2022-23. Not coincidentally, those three matches were the only instances where the Ducks won three straight games in regulation and one of just two three-game win streaks last season overall (the other saw them allow exactly six goals across three victories, one in overtime). While their newfound structure and defensive acumen have only translated to one victory in five matches, the difference has been palpable in every area but the win column.

“Sitting here 10 minutes after the game it’s frustrating, but the way we’ve played for the first five games I don’t think anyone has any disappointment,” veteran forward Ryan Strome said.

“Five-on-five we’re controlling a lot of the play. We’re playing good hard defense,” added Strome. “Everyone’s playing hard, you see guys forechecking, everyone’s hitting, no one’s being lazy or taking shifts off. The results are going to come.”

Mason McTavish scored his second goal of the season. John Gibson beat back 23 Boston bids.

Boston’s Matthew Poitras scored his first NHL goal and thought so much of the experience that he tallied again in the same period before Brad Marchand added an empty-net marker, his third goal in two nights. Linus Ullmark, last year’s Vezina Trophy winner, had 30 saves, two fewer than his backup Jeremy Swayman did in a win over the Kings Saturday.

Marchand’s empty netter with 2:34 to play extinguished any hopeful embers for the Ducks, who had buzzed early in the third and surged in spurts late.

Boston had earlier responded with its first goal of the night, and the first of a promising rookie’s career, 1:24 after the Ducks got the scoring going. It was Poitras depositing the puck into Gibson’s net with a redirection from the low slot. It was a goal few could have foreseen when he entered training camp on the Bruins’ roster bubble. Fewer still could have predicted his game-winning goal with 9:40 to play off a followup effort down low.

The Ducks had broken through 5:05 into the closing stanza with a goal off the rush. McTavish engineered a golden opportunity for Strome, whose rebound was banked softly off the post and in by McTavish for his second goal of the season. Prior to that, the Ducks had sustained pressure and tested Ullmark, creating some buildup to the goal.

“You can always feel the momentum, especially with the fans, with the loud noise in the back of your head,” McTavish said. “It gives you more energy, we were kind of flying and we kind of felt the ice shift.”

Through two periods, the game was not only scoreless but also even in many statistical areas. Shots on goal, faceoffs and turnovers were essentially split, but the Ducks had owned the puck more, delivered four more hits and blocked six more shots than the Bruins. Their heavy possession advantage –– Natural Stat Trick metrics put them around 65% in every major category for the game –– barely produced a shot-on-goal advantage and put them at a disadvantage in shot attempts.

Coach Greg Cronin lamented the lack of a shot mentality and expressed bewilderment at his team’s tendency to possess the puck in dangerous areas only to redistribute it to the peripheries of the offensive zone.

“We had plenty of opportunities. I keep saying, like a broken record, we won’t shoot the puck. We had the puck the whole second period,” Cronin said.

“We want to tee it up and pass the puck laterally at home plate, it’s getting old,” he added.

Last year, the Ducks owned the league’s lowest point total while the Bruins surpassed the NHL’s all-time marks for wins and points in a single campaign. They’re also off to a famous start despite two key players retiring, having won their first five matches.

Upsetting that order would have required a bit of a defiant attitude, and the Ducks got some of that from their physical play, including when defenseman Radko Gudas stood up Boston tough guy Trent Frederic and sent the hulking forward back to the dressing room for medical attention in the second period (he later returned).

Anaheim Ducks |

Lukas Dostal’s 25 saves not enough in Ducks’ 2-1 loss to Coyotes

Anaheim Ducks |

Ducks coach Greg Cronin has Arizona on his mind, not Boston

Anaheim Ducks |

Leo Carlsson scores in impressive NHL debut, but Ducks lose to Stars

Anaheim Ducks |

Ducks’ Leo Carlsson expected to make NHL debut against Stars

Anaheim Ducks |

In Ducks’ 30th anniversary season, who are their top 30 players of all time?

While Gudas, an established vet whose heavy style of play is well-defined, rookie Pavel Mintyukov turned in another magnificent effort Sunday, earning second-star honors.

Yet for all the encouraging signals in the Ducks’ game Sunday and their early-season schedule so far, they’ve only got one win and two points to show for their hustling and grinding.

“We played well. But you can’t keep saying that. You’re saying that every game,” Cronin said. “We could have beat Dallas, we could have beat this team. Score goals. You can’t win games scoring one goal a game.”

Orange County Register

News Details

Ducks fall to Bruins after late rally

Related Articles

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS