In ANaheim, the Ducks were nearly a match for the Boston Bruins on Sunday night.
After two scoreless periods, the Ducks’ Mason McTavish scored at 5:05 of the third period to take a 1-0 lead on Boston.
It wasn’t quite enough as the Bruins’ Matthew Poitras scored twice in the third to erase the deficit and Boston a 20-1 lead.
“It’s kind of the same thing as the last couple games,” McTavish said. “We’re taking steps, especially from last year. We’re outshooting teams, out-chancing them, we’ve just got to bear down and capitalize on our chances.”
Linus Ullmark made 31 saves in the Bruins win.
“It’s good to get the win,” Poitras said. “We kind of just stuck together, stuck with it. Maybe not our best, but we were able to get the job done so that’s great.”
Brad Marchand added a late empty-net goal for the 3-1 final.
“If you’re going to produce in this league, you have to be willing to play inside the dots and that’s what I love about him,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said of Poitras. “Whether it’s one-on-one battles in the corners or getting to the hard areas, he’s willing to go to areas where you’re going to have success.”
The two goals from Poitras were his first career NHL markers.
“It’s pretty surreal, just seeing the puck go in the net is really exciting,” Poitras said. “I don’t really know what I did. I kind of blacked out a little bit, but super excited and happy.”
Poitras tied the game, 1-1, at 6:28 of the third.
“Three (games) in four (days) on the road with travel against an Anaheim Duck team that played really physical, played with a lot of emotion and they had us on our heels in the first there, physically,” Montgomery said. “I think we got a little bit better as the game continued to go on, but it was a big win for us.”
The game-winner came midway through the third.
“Love how the Poitras line went out there and got it right back,” Montgomery said. “It was a great play all around. [DeBrusk] made a great play on the wall to [Ian Mitchell], and Mitchell sauced it over to Geekie, and what a pass by Geekie over to Poitras and he buried it.”
John Gibson made 25 saves in another loss without much support.
“We’ve realized that playing hard and doing the right things, we’re close, but we’re not there yet,” Ducks forward Ryan Strome said. “So we’ve got to dig a little deeper, find a way to get that timely play.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.