The Ducks entered as one of the early surprises in the NHL as they had won the first three games of the season but they predictably started slow in this the finale of their first road trip (4 games) of the campaign. The B's made the most of their body clock advantage (this would feel like a 10 am start for the West Coast Ducks) as they jumped out to 2-0 lead midway through the second period which ballooned to 4-1 early in the third. Pastrnak scored twice on the power play and twice even strength as the trio of Bergeron, Krug and Marchand were credited with all the assists on his goals. Talk about top heavy: 11 of Boston's last 14 goals this season have been scored by their top line. David Krejci leaving twice today with an undisclosed injury (groin?) and eventually not returning doesn't bode well for the sputtering second line to get untracked anytime soon.
When you score four goals in a single contest, I would assume that they are all sexy in their own right but for my money, the first one was the best. Krug shuttled the puck to Bergeron in the slot who fed Pasta for a one-timer that he straight up obliterated (witness how fast it bounced back off the net) at 4:18 of the first for his third goal of the season. Boston led 1-0 after the first period and made it 2-0 at 11:38 when Brad and David worked a 2-on-1 shortly after a successful Bruins penalty kill (4-for-4 on the day). Anaheim goaltender John Gibson (19 saves; 3-2-0) wasn't able to slide across in time as Pasta one-timed a quick snap shot. The Ducks woke up in a big way in the second though as they outshot the home team 16-6 and were finally rewarded at 17:52 as Rickard Rakell's shot was touched by Jaroslav Halak (30 saves; 2-1-0) but he couldn't keep it out of the net. Rakell's second goal of the game was assisted by Adam Henrique (playing in his 600th career NHL game) and Cam Fowler. Up until then, Halak was playing incredible as he made multiple five-star saves that defied logic and left the Ducks in disbelief.
Boston's penalty kill unit had to start the third period nursing a one-goal lead (2-1) but soon it became 3-1 after Bergeron won an offensive zone faceoff that caromed off an Anaheim defenseman's skate directly to Pastrnak. Gibson was no match for Pastrnak's incredible release from that type of close range. That goal was unassisted for Pastrnak at 2:20 but the fourth and final one came from Marchand and Krug at 4:34. On the power play, Marchand slid the puck to the far post where Pasta was stationed to redirect it in. Halak suffered an unfortunate gaffe (that was something out of a soccer game) as Nick Ritchie (Brett's brother) stole the puck from him next to the net and passed it to Henrique for an easy one-timer from a short distance away at 16:08. Henrique's second goal of the season and second point of the day cut it to 4-2 but that's as close as it would get for Anaheim. Who could blame them at that point for wanting to get on their team charter back to Cali (Biggie voice)?
These first two home games against overmatched teams-New Jersey stinks and Anaheim will come back to Earth right about now-were merely an appetizer as the Bruins have their first marquee home tilt of the season when Tampa Bay (2-2-1) comes here on Thursday (7, NESN). The Lightning will almost certainly be one of the top contenders in the Atlantic Division, the Eastern Conference and NHL in general and their meetings with the Black and Gold tend to almost always be physical, emotional and entertaining affairs. Boston is off tomorrow and returns to practice on Wednesday. According to head coach Bruce Cassidy, that's when they'll have a better feel for Krejci's status. If he can't go vs. Tampa, Par Lindholm (a healthy scratch for the last 4 games) would slide in since he's naturally a center.
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