The Boston Bruins’ five-game road trip against Western Conference teams could not have gotten off to a much better start.
The B’s picked up their fourth consecutive win, topping the slumping Anaheim Ducks 3-0 Friday night at Honda Center.
Noel Acciari and Jake DeBrusk notched goals for the Bruins, with Brandon Carlo, Sean Kuraly, David Krejci and Torey Krug picking up assists. Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves en route to his fourth shutout of the season. Kevin Boyle made 26 saves for the Ducks.
With the win, the Bruins moved to 33-17-8. The Ducks fell to 22-27-9 with the loss.
Here’s how it all went down:
EARLY MARKER
Boston carried the pace for the first half of the opening 20 minutes, registering an early goal to take a 1-0 lead.
The Bruins were able to generate a ton of time in the offensive zone in the opening minutes. And 5:15 into the game, the B’s were on the board.
After keeping the puck alive in the zone, Kuraly fed a pass to Brandon Carlo, who blasted a shot toward net, where Acciari was able to a get piece of the puck as it beat Boyle to the top-right corner.
Shots were 6-1 Bruins at that time, but the Ducks battled back strong, outshooting the B’s 11-8 and out-hitting Boston 14-8.
POWER PLAY PADS LEAD
Despite being outshot again in the second period, the Bruins produced enough firepower to add to their lead, scoring on the power play to lead 2-0 after 40 minutes.
The B’s came out a little flat-footed to start the second, with Zdeno Chara loosing a foot race with Rickard Rakell, who shoveled a pass to Corey Perry who had no one to beat but Halak. But the Boston netmidner stood tall, robbing Perry with a glove save.
The visitors regained their stride from there, with Bergeron drawing a holding penalty. Just nine seconds into the man advantag,. Krejci was able to dance Boyle out of his crease, which allowed DeBrusk to slam one home to give the B’s a 2-0 lead 5:07 into the second.
The Bruins had to kill consecutive penalties from there, with Halak making a number of saves in an impressive second period from the 33-year-old, who made 11 saves in the middle 20.
BRUINS RIDE IT OUT
Boston faced little fight from the Ducks in the third as they cruised to the victory.
The Bruins dominated puck possession in the third period, heavily out-shooting and out-chancing the Ducks, who seemed a defeated team in the final 20 minutes.
Marchand drew an interference penalty on Cam Fowler in a scary hit where the two player’s knees collided as Fowler through a shoulder through the Bruins winger and sent him airborne. Marchand came up gingerly, but stayed in the game for the ensuing power play.
Boston’s penalty kill remained spotless on the evening, killing off their third penalty following John Moore’s second infraction.
Chris Wagner sealed the deal with an empty-net goal from the neutral zone with 1:31 remaining.
UP NEXT
The Bruins’s West Coast road trip resumes Saturday night with tilt against the Los Angeles Kings. Puck drop from Staples Center is slotted for 10:30 p.m. ET.
This Bruins Wrap is presented by Plainridge Park Casino.
