Bruins Blanked By Anaheim Ducks
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Frederik Andersen made 38 saves to earn his fifth career shutout in the Anaheim Ducks' 4-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Friday night.
Jamie McGinn, Ryan Kesler, Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim, which has earned a point in 11 of its last 12 home games. After losing four of their previous five games during their first poor stretch of play since Christmas, the Ducks avoided consecutive home losses in regulation for the first time since Oct. 14-16.
Jonas Gustavsson stopped 22 shots for the Bruins, who dropped consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 11-13. With losses in the first two stops of a three-game California road swing, Boston remained three points behind Atlantic Division-leading Florida.
Andersen picked up his 15th win in his last 17 starts to keep the pressure on John Gibson in their friendly goaltending rivalry heading toward the playoffs.
He punctuated a night of big stops with two emphatic saves in the second period. After Patrice Bergeron plowed into Andersen while firing a one-timer into the Dane's chest and dislodging the net, Andersen made a backhanded glove save while falling forward to deny Loui Eriksson.
McGinn was credited with Anaheim's opening goal early in the first period, the beneficiary of effective positioning in front of the net and a couple of lucky bounces. Corey Perry's shot hit Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid in the leg before redirecting off McGinn and Torey Krug as they wrestled at the top of the crease.
McGinn has four goals in nine games since being traded from Buffalo.
Anaheim added to its advantage 76 seconds later when Kesler put in a rebound off Andrew Cogliano's breakaway shot for his 16th goal of the season.
Lindholm scored 58 seconds into the third, capitalizing on Ryan Getzlaf's pinpoint pass after the Anaheim captain ripped the puck away from John-Michael Liles behind the goal. Rakell notched his 19th goal of the season in the closing minutes of the emphatic Ducks win.
Before heading out on a five-game Canadian road trip, Anaheim cut its deficit to four points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the Pacific Division lead with 12 games remaining.
Longtime Ducks forward Matt Beleskey returned to Anaheim for the first time since signing with Boston as a free agent last summer, but barely avoided a serious injury. Beleskey was accidentally hit in the face by Simon Despres' stick late in the first period, dropping him to the ice in pain.
Beleskey, who returned to begin the second period wearing a clear visor, was drafted by Anaheim and played seven seasons with the Ducks before joining Boston.
NOTES: Anaheim has won five consecutive games against Boston, including three straight at home. ... Boston dropped to 6-3-1 in the first of back-to-back games this season. ... Zdeno Chara got into a fight on his 39th birthday. The Boston captain tussled with Clayton Stoner for his first fighting major since the 2013-14 season.
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