BOSTON – If there’s one thing for certain seven games into the Anaheim Ducks season, this team can score, and it can score quickly.

The Ducks broke a 3-3 tie entering the third period with Mikael Granlund’s first goal of the season–a power play goal–and hometown kid Sam Colangelo blasting his first of the season for a 5-3 lead. That advantage vanished in a 25-second span with just over five minutes to play, as the Bruins struck in a flash to tie the game, 5-5.

But just 30 seconds later, Troy Terry took the air out of TD Garden finishing off a nifty play from Boston College alum Nikita Nesterenko, and Granlund hit the empty net for his career-high fifth point of the night, as the Ducks escaped from Boston with the win, 5-2.

Anaheim has won back-to-back games and earned five of six points to open its road trip. Boston has lost six straight after a 3-0-0 start.

“We just kept playing,” Granlund said. “I felt like we had a really good third there, and all of a sudden they score two goals and it’s tie game and then we scored the next shift. So that was one of those games. Good job. We bounced back there and, you know, obviously we don’t want to give up five goals a game, but, you know, you got two points and that’s all that matters.”

Granlund’s five points tied an Anaheim record for points in a game, making the 33-year-old Finn the seventh Ducks player to achieve the feat. It was the 19th instance of a Ducks five-point night, and the first since Ryan Getzlaf registered five assists on Nov. 24, 2015 against Calgary.

  

Anaheim has scored seven goals twice this season, which matches its total of seven-goal over the past three seasons combined. With 26 goals in their first seven games, the Ducks have tied their team record set in 2012-13, and their 21 road goals are the most in club history, passing the 18 goals from the same 2012-13 season.

Nesterenko also notched four assists, and paired with Granlund’s five-point night, they are the first pair of Ducks teammates with four or more points in the same game since Adam Henrique and Nick Ritchie both collected four points on Feb. 23, 2020 against Vegas.

“I think we have a lot of talent, a lot of skill on this team,” Granlund said. “I think we have a lot of pace out there and we keep generating some chances. Obviously tonight, those were going in, but I think we’re a really, really tough team to defend.”

Anaheim gave up the first goal of the game for the sixth time in seven games this season, but Drew Helleson tied it later in the opening frame. Cutter Gauthier erased a Bruins lead in the second period, and Jacob Trouba put the Ducks ahead late in the second. Boston tied it, 3-3, entering the final frame.

While not pretty, Petr Mrazek stopped 36 of 41 shots to earn his second win of the season in his second start. Mrazek has allowed 11 goals in two games, with his first game being the Ducks 7-6 overtime thriller in San Jose.

Ducks coach Joel Quenneville called that San Jose win “a wow.” Tonight in Boston?

“This would be a wow, wow,” Quenneville said. “Certainly had a lot of the same things that were going on out there, like pucks were going in at both ends. I thought the guys–-I mean, Granny and that line of his made a big play on that goal right after they tied it up, so it was a good response. Well, we had some good things that we were doing out there, and at the same time, things we got to clean up, but never a dull moment out there tonight.”

Anaheim (4-2-1, 9 points) concludes its five-game road trip in the state of Florida, with a match-up in Tampa Bay on Saturday and against the Stanley Cup champion Panthers next Tuesday.

“We got a good test going into Tampa,” Quenneville said. “We’ve got a good start on this trip, and we want to keep the momentum going, and obviously, we’ve got to play more–I’m gonna say, we got to play with the puck a lot better than we did that tonight going against Tampa.”

Anaheim Runs on Dunkin’

Outside of Minnesota, Boston can be considered America’s other hockey hotbed, as well as maybe the country’s largest college town, and the Ducks had two Massachusetts natives and three Boston College boys finf the scoresheet on Thursday.

Sam Colangelo, a Boston area native from Stoneham who played three seasons at Northeastern in Boston, stepped into a loose puck for an insurance marker in the third period–his first goal of the season. This was his first NHL game in Boston.

“I can’t really put it into words,” Colangelo said. “I couldn’t even put a number, how many people I have here and so many people that help me get here today and they know who they are, and I’m really, really thankful for them and happy that I was able to do something good in front of them.”

Colangelo said that his parents got glass seats at TD Garden through local connections, where they had an up-close view of this special moment.

“I think that’s the first time my dad’s ever sat on the glass at a Bruins game, and we’ve been to hundreds,” Colangelo said. “So, I got to see where they were after I scored, and it was a really cool feeling.”

For the BC contingent, Drew Helleson scored a first-period equalizer, Cutter Gauthier scored a second-period equalizer, and Nikita Nesterenko assisted on Helleson’s strike and Jacob Trouba’s go-ahead marker later in the second period.

Frank Vatrano, a Massachusetts native and UMass alum, earned his first point of the season with a touch assist on Mikael Granlund’s go-ahead power play goal in the third period.

Alex Killorn and Ian Moore also attended college at Harvard. Anaheim’s fourth Boston College alum, Chris Kreider, was out with an illness.

 

Petr Mrazek rollercoaster continues

Anaheim goalie Petr Mrázek has a Ducks-themed rollercoaster painted on his mask this season, and it feels unfortunately apt through two starts this season.

In his first start against San Jose, Mrázek gave up two quick goals, but the Ducks eliminated three two-goal deficits to force overtime and claim victory in a wild 7-6 affair. The Czech native made just 23 saves on 29 shots.

“Obviously, you know, you win (that game),” Quenneville said at Thursday’s morning skate. “I think you look at that, hey, you got that job done, so I think that I’m sure that gives you confidence going forward, and it’s been a while since he played. We wanted to get him in on this trip. And, you know, he got to watch a little bit, but at the same time, I’m sure you can’t wait to get back into the net, so it’ll be a good opportunity for him.”

In Boston, Mrázek–who made his 399th career start–simply couldn’t hold onto a rebound to start the game, as the Ducks again gave up the first goal. Boston’s second goal came on the rush from distance with just a slight screen, and the Bruins’ third goal was on a point shot on the power play, where it seemed as if Mrázek was anticipating a deflection that never came.

“I mean a couple of them went in there. They went in,” Quenneville said after the game. “But at the same time, you know, we clean up loose stuff and turnovers in areas that you got to make sure plays and good puck placement in the right time where we have a chance to keep it.”

Mrázek ultimately made 36 saves on 41 shots, but if there’s lessening confidence in the Ducks’ back-up netminder, his countryman and unquestioned No. 1 goalie Lukas Dostal may need to carry more of the load than Anaheim anticipated.

Radko Gudas leaves game with lower-body injury

Anaheim played the final two periods without its captain Radko Gudas. He was announced as out with a lower-body injury. Gudas is considered day-to-day.

Gudas played 3:49 of ice time on six shifts in the first period with one hit. He was paired with Pavel Mintyukov on Thursday.

Gudas rehabbed a knee injury over the offseason after opting to forgo surgery, as the injury was not as substantial as initially feared.

“It was just one of the small things that happens throughout the season that ten of those things happen throughout the season, you know?” Gudas said to open training camp.

Gudas said he was “100%” and “ready to roll” at the beginning of camp last month, and it certainly looked that way through the first six games of the season.

Gudas was rolling with a 51.1% shot attempt share at five-on-five and had recorded two assists.