By: Chad Jones | Follow me on Twitter/X @ShutUpChadJones
The Boston Bruins started off their four-game road trip with a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. With the loss, the Bruins’ record stands at 12-10-0.
First Period
The Ducks did not wait long to get the scoring started. Ross Johnston fired a bad-angle shot on Joonas Korpisalo. While Boston’s goaltender made the initial save, Jansen Harkins won the puck battle against Hampus Lindholm to bury the rebound.
Later in the period, a Radko Gudas blast from the point deflected off Fraser Minten’s skate and into the back of the net. Anaheim lit the lamp twice in the game’s first seven minutes.
But the Bruins would respond on the man advantage. Morgan Geekie showed off his ridiculous hand-eye coordination by tipping home a goal off a Lindholm attempt. The puck bounced off Lukas Dostal and in. Matej Blumel was hacking away and even skated first towards the Bruins bench, but Geekie was credited with his 13th goal of the campaign.
Second Period
The Bruins dictated play early in the frame in pursuit of the equalizer. But Dostal remained solid between the pipes to keep the game at 2-1. In the middle of the period, Mason McTavish bumped into Korpisalo and scored quickly after. But the referees got together and ruled no goal on the play, and Anaheim did not challenge the decision.
Late in an Anaheim power play, it looked like Boston was going to kill off the man advantage. But McTavish delivered a slick feed to Ryan Strome, who was just to the right of Korpisalo. Strome showed off some crafty skills by tipping the puck home to increase the Ducks’ lead to 3-1.
But the Bruins would continue to generate quality looks. Late in the period, Mikey Eyssimont put the brakes on during a rush to improve his shooting angle. The winger then fired the puck past Dostal to get Boston back within a goal. The Ducks would take their 3-2 lead into the second intermission.
Third Period
Early in the frame, Gudas delivered a nasty hit on Eyssimont. Jeffrey Viel immediately took exception to the play and dropped the gloves with Gudas. Viel was assessed an instigator penalty and a ten-minute misconduct. Eyssimont needed help getting off the ice and went down the tunnel. He would return to the game.
Approaching the middle of the period, the Bruins did not take long to capitalize on a power play. After a clean faceoff win, David Pastrnak got to work. He snapped a pass to Geekie in the high slot. The winger’s deflection proved too hot to handle for Dostal, and Geekie potted his 14th goal of the year to knot the game at three aside.
With 3:35 left in the game, Ian Moore fired an attempt toward Korpisalo. The puck eluded a maze of bodies and beat the Bruins’ netminder. The Ducks reclaimed the lead and were ahead 4-3 with under two minutes to go in the contest. Boston pressured in Anaheim’s zone, but were unable to pot the equalizer. The Ducks held on for the 4-3 victory.
While the Bruins were able to generate high-quality chances against Anaheim, the Ducks came out on top in large part from their ability to get bodies in Korpisalo’s line of vision and deflect pucks into the back of the net.
The Bruins will look to snap their mini two-game skid on Friday night. Boston will take on the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
The Bruins will play three more road games on this trip before returning to Boston to take on the New York Rangers on Black Friday. If you want to see the Bruins in person at TD Garden or during Boston’s road trip, consider using this official StubHub Ticket-affiliated link here for the most competitive concert and sporting event tickets in the North American region.
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