*Photo from TheScore*
Things are humming along in Beantown to open the year. Jake DeBrusk had an assist, Matthew Poitras scored twice, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a 3-1 victory on Sunday night in Anaheim.
Wrapping up a 3 game west coast road swing, the Bruins won their 5th straight game to open the season, moving to a perfect 5-0-0. The Bruins are off to their best 5 game start in 86 years, dating back to 1937-1938. The road trip isn't over for them either.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of the win "3 in 4 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. I think we got a little bit better as the game continued to go on, but it was a big win for us."
The first two periods were scoreless in this one. Mason McTavish broke the stalemate 5:05 into the 3rd period, giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead with assists from Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome. At the 6:29 mark of the 3rd, Poitras scored his first NHL goal to tie the game at 1-1, assisted by Morgan Geekie and Ian Mitchell.
At the 10:20 mark, Poitras broke the 1-1 tie with his second goal of the night and his career, making it a 2-1 Bruins lead with DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy getting the assists. With the net empty and 2:34 left on the clock, Brad Marchand sealed the win for the Bruins, making it a 3-1 score with his 4th goal of the season.
Poitras said after the game that "It's pretty surreal, just seeing the puck go in the net is really exciting. I don't really know what I did. I kind of blacked out a little bit, but super excited and happy. It's good to get the win. 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."
Getting the start in net for the Bruins was Linus Ullmark, who improved to a perfect 3-0-0 on the season. Ullmark turned aside all but one of the 31 shots that the Ducks sent at him, recording a .968 save percentage.
Starting for the Ducks opposite Ullmark was John Gibson, who is still winless to open the season with a 0-3-0 record. Gibson stopped 23 out of the 25 shots on goal the Bruins tested him with, which was good for a .920 save percentage.
McTavish said of the Ducks' 3rd straight loss that "It's kind of the same thing as the last couple games. 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."
The Bruins continue their road trip by facing the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night, with Jeremy Swayman expected to get the start. The Ducks travel to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, with Lukas Dostal the likely starter.
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