The Bruins were not ready to start the game against the Anaheim Duck on Friday. They were, however, prepared to finish it.<\/p>\n
The Bruins played a terrible first period and spotted the Ducks two first-period goals in 21 seconds before they stormed back to score four straight goals to capture a 4-2 victory.<\/p>\n
The B\u2019s went 3-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill while Michael DiPietro made 25 saves to record his first NHL win. In his eighth professional season, the 27-year-old DiPietro made his first opening roster this year and now he has his first victory. He was understandably emotional.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a long road to get here and I just want to thank my family, my dad, my mom, my brother, my wife, everyone who supported me through eight years of pro,\u201d DiPietro told NESN. \u201cIt was a long road but this one was extra special.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bruins got goals from Frederic Brunet, David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm and Matt Poitras to capture the victory.<\/p>\n
They have now earned at least a split on their four-game road trip.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t look like that was going to be the result on this night.<\/p>\n
The Bruins\u2019 season-long issue of stalled breakouts and turning over the puck in their own zone continued in the first period. But thanks to the netminding of DiPietro, who made several high-quality saves in the opening period, it looked like they might escape to the first intermission having survived the barrage.<\/p>\n
They did not.<\/p>\n
The Ducks gashed them for two goals in the final 38 seconds of the period. The first one came on a harmless-looking shot from the left point. Tim Washe just threw the puck toward the net along the ice and, with a battle going on in front, the puck got through DiPietro, most likely screened.<\/p>\n
That was bad enough, but they couldn\u2019t limit the damage to one goal. On the next shift, the Ducks showed some wizardry in the offensive zone. Former Boston College star Cutter Gauthier started it with a pass to Nikita Nesterenko, who in turn sent it down low to Beckett Sennecke for a pretty redirect and a 2-0 Anaheim lead that was well-deserved.<\/p>\n
The Ducks held a 14-7 shot-on-net advantage but a gaudy 28-11 total shot edge. It was total domination.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing in after the first period, (Pastrnak) settled us down, all the leaders as well,\u201d DiPietro said. \u201cWe just did bite-size chunks, five minutes at a time, and just tried to take care of business. With special teams, we won that battle. It was a long game to get to it but we finally broke through and we finally did it. It was great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bruins got their heads into the game early in the second period when they were given their first power play. It had a nearly disastrous start when Charlie McAvoy whiffed on a shot out high and Nesterenko took off on a clean breakaway, but he fumbled his chance and did not get a shot off.<\/p>\n
As the power play was winding down, Pastrnak kept a puck from rimming around the boards and James Hagens fed it out high to Brunet. It was a bouncing pass, but Brunet did a great job of keeping the puck in at the line and quickly fired it to the net. Pastrnak was in front, but it eluded his stick and sneaked by Lukas Dostal for Brunet\u2019s first NHL goal at 3:15. Brunet was the 16h Bruin to find the back of the net this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was probably the worst shot of my career,\u201d a grinning Brunet told reporters in Anaheim. \u201cThe play of keeping the puck in was probably better than my shot but everything happens for a reason and I\u2019m happy it happened today.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Anaheim still controlled more of the play in the second, it wasn\u2019t quite as lopsided as the first. But they would create a challenge for themselves for the third period. With 59 seconds left in the second, Nikita Zadorov was called for elbowing on Frank Vatrano, which was a dubious call. But then Zadorov shoved Vatrano to the ice for a well-earned roughing penalty for two minors.<\/p>\n
It did not lead to the calamity that it could have.<\/p>\n
The B\u2019s managed to kill the first one off and, with 40 seconds left in the second minor, Ducks rookie Roger McQueen was called for interference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought that was the game right there,\u201d said coach Marco Sturm. \u201cI thought, \u2018When we kill this penalty, that\u2019s when we\u2019re going to start playing our game.\u2019 And that\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
The B\u2019s then tied it up at 3:26 of the third when they went on the power play. Operating in tight quarters in the mid-slot, Pastrnak passed it to Lindholm, who gave it right back to Pastrnak. The captain managed to one-time a backhander that beat Dostal and, improbably, the game was even. It was his 423rd career goal, moving him into fourth place alone ahead of Brad Marchand on the Bruins all-time goalscoring list.<\/p>\n
The B\u2019s then took lead at 8:18 on the power play after Matt Poitras drew a penalty. The first PP unit did a great job winning battles all over the offensive zone until Pavel Zacha fed Lindholm for a tap-in at the top of the crease. Zacha left the game at 10:29 after taking a hit along the boards and did not return. There was no immediate word on what was bothering him.<\/p>\n
Morgan Geekie was called for a hook on a backcheck in the neutral zone but they killed it off and then the B\u2019s got a glimpse-of-the-future insurance goal with 3:40 left in regulation. Poitras broke out of the defensive zone with Hagens for a 2-on1. He pushed it to Hagens, who gained the offensive zone and then fed it back to Poitras for nice backhander to make it 4-2.<\/p>\n
McQueen took an ill-advised penalty shortly after the goal and that all but ended it, giving the B\u2019s another good two-point night and their fourth straight win.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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