Recap: Bruins Fall To Ducks 6-2
BOSTON -- After starting the season with one win in their first 10 games -- sparking rumors that their coach was about to get fired, the Anaheim Ducks have hit the NHL's All-Star break looking like they're ready to make a real run at the playoffs.
"It's been good, things have turned around," sizzling right winger Corey Perry said after his goal and assist helped the Ducks to a 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins Tuesday in the final game for both teams before the break. "We dug ourselves a hole earlier on in the season and it's not easy to get out of and we have been pushing for a while.
"Good things are starting to happen now and you just got to continue do that."
The Ducks started the season 1-7-2 and are closing in on second or third place in the Pacific Division, which comes as no surprise to Bruins coach Claude Julien.
"This team doesn't belong there at all," Julien said of Anaheim's precarious situation.
On Tuesday, the Ducks, 6-2-0 in their last eight and 10-3-1 in their last 14, spotted the Bruins a goal 40 seconds into the game and scored the game's next four goals -- against two goaltenders.
Bruins goalie Jonas Gustavsson left the game after the first period because of illness and the team said he had been taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for observation. Gustavsson had three procedures from 2009-11 to correct a rapid heartbeat but there was no word on whether this was connected to the prior problem. If it was, it would be his first recurrence since 2011.
There was no update on Gustavsson after the game.
Since a team has to have an emergency backup available, Bruins goalie coach Bob Essensa was seen leaving the press box to head down to the locker room, apparently to dress in case something happened to Tuukka Rask. Prospect Malcolm Subban, who had the night off with the Providence Bruins not playing, was also spotted in the building.
Perry, who has six goals and eight points in the last eight games, newly acquired left winger David Perron, center Ryan Kesler and rookie defenseman Shea Theodore all had a goal and an assist as the Ducks (22-18-7) won for the fifth time in their last six games and beat the Bruins for the fourth straight time.
Center Ryan Getzlaf and right winger Jakob Silfverberg had two assists apiece.
Asked what happened to turn things around, Perry, who hit the 20-goal mark for the eighth time in his career, said: "I wish I had an answer for that. I wish we knew what happened at the start of the season. We dug ourselves a hole and we have to get out of it and we are starting to play the right way and doing a lot of the good things."
The Bruins (26-18-5) have won only three of their last nine home games and fell to 11-13-2 on home ice this season. They haven't won back-to-back home games in two months and lost to a good team after playing and winning in Philadelphia on Monday.
"They have been here for three days waiting for us," said Julien. "They are big, they are a pretty heavy team, three lines deep with size. We had a good start in the first period, second period was probably the period that hurt us and then we're down 4-1.''
After defenseman Zach Trotman scored 40 seconds into the game, Perry and Theodore answered against Gustavsson, and Perron and defenseman Kevin Bieksa connected against Rask to give the Ducks a 4-1 lead.
Defenseman Zdeno Chara gave the Bruins hope when he scored his seventh goal of the season 2:04 into the third, but that was all Boston would get against Frederik Anderson, who improved to 8-8-5 while making 32 saves.
Kesler scored into the open net and center Mike Santorelli also scored in the final minute.
Rask, who made 19 saves, actually wound up as the losing goalie, dropping to 17-15-4.
Left winger Matt Beleskey, playing his first game against his old team, assisted on both Bruins goals -- his first points in six games.
NOTES: Boston College's Jerry York, who became the first NCAA Division I coach to win 1,000 games Jan. 22, dropped the first puck. ... The Ducks welcomed D Simon Despres back after he missed 42 games with concussion symptoms, but they learned earlier in the day they lost C Shawn Horcoff for 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. ... Bruins LW Matt Beleskey played his first game against his former team, saying before the game, "I've definitely had this one circled on the calendar." ... Anaheim LW Andrew Cogliano played in his 669th consecutive game, the second-longest streak from the start of a career in NHL history. Current Bruins assistant coach Doug Jarvis holds the record with 964. ... The Ducks come out of the All-Star break at home against the San Jose Sharks. The Bruins play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both games are next Tuesday.
