Final Score: Ducks 3, Bruins 2 (OT)
First Period:
Cam Fowler had a chance in the first minute of the game, but just missed wide with half a net to shoot at after cross crease pass from Corey Perry. Matching minor penalties were doled out to Simon Despres and Milan Lucic for exchanging slashes and cross checks away from the play. During the ensuing 4-on-4 play there were a few heavy shots that got through to Frederik Andersen, but nothing all that dangerous either way. The most interesting/impressive play during the Despres/Lucic penalties was actually Sami Vatanen falling down while skating backwards into his own zone, but still making a poke check on the puck as he hit the ice.
A few minutes later there was more 4-on-4 to be had after Perry hit Adam McQuaid as he iced the puck. By the time the linesman had made it back to the Boston zone Perry and McQuaid had exchanged some cross checks of their own and both went to the box. Again it was nothing all that eventful, but it could be argued that Boston had the better chances.
The Ducks’ first real dominant shift of the game came from the newly formed first line of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Jiri Sekac with roughly eight minutes left in the first. Perry was the main threat, as he has been heating up offensively in the past few games. He, Getzlaf and Sekac all did a good job of recovering pucks and keeping it deep in the zone before throwing it in front for Perry to do his thing.
Two minutes later the first power play of the game was awarded to the Bruins when Patrick Maroon was called for a hooking penalty. Jakob Silfverberg had a shorthanded opportunity, when David Krejci mishandled a puck in the neutral zone and Silf skated in on a partial breakaway, but he shot the rolling puck over the top and Boston was off to the races the other way. Francois Beauchemin was able to slow them down a little at the blueline and the resulting shot was easily handled by Freddy at the right post. Boston got set up later in the PP, aided partially by a broken stick by Fowler, but the Ducks survived.
Shortly after the kill, the Ducks went shorthanded again when Beauch clearly tripped Chris Kelly as he attempted a breakout pass. The interesting stuff was all happening away from the play though as McQuaid worked over Matt Beleskey’s undercarriage with his stick and when Beleskey had words and a slash to the back of the knee for him, McQuaid responded with a crosscheck to his jaw. The hockey gods made things right though, as Boston couldn’t really generate much on the PP, even with some decent possession. Right at the end of the kill the Ducks got one shorthanded shot on net with Fowler getting right down into the crease looking for a tip or rebound, but still nothing for Tukka Rask to worry about, and that was really the last action of the scoreless first period.
Second Period:
The first scoring chance of the second was for Torey Krug, as he picked up the puck in the neutral zone after Hampus Lindholm had broken his stick attempting an outlet pass. However, Lindholm did well to keep him out to the faceoff dot for his shot that was blockered away by Freddy. At the other side of the ice a few minutes later, Rask gave up a juicy rebound off of a Fowler shot that Rickard Rakell got to, but he could only get a weak backhander away as he fell to the ice.
In the Ducks' zone about five and a half minutes into the period Lucic was hit by the errant high stick of Patrick Maroon. Lucic stayed down for a few seconds and when he got up had nothing but words for the referee who didn't make the call. As the Ducks went the other way Sekac came flying in down the right wing boards into the crease, but Rask stood strong and kept the puck out.
Just before the halfway point of the game, Kyle Soderberg went for the spin-o-rama in the slot but was blocked by Despres, twice. For the Bruins, Rask had a couple of questionable attempts at playing the puck behind his net, but didn't have to pay the price.
Patty Maroon opened the scoring 10:18 into the second, breaking the ankles of Bartkowski before snapping a perfect shot over the glove hand of Rask, off the cross bar and in. Beautiful, beautiful goal, even if he told Kent French that he "just blacked out" and it went in. 1-0 Ducks.
Boston nearly tied it up only about a minute later when Patrice Begeron and Loui Eriksson played a little give and go in the slot. Noted Duck killer, Eriksson dragged the puck to the other side of the goal trying to wait out Freddy but the Danish goalie just got a piece of it with his stick and/or leg pad to tip it out the other side. Ryan Kesler went into the butterfly to protect the empty net on the rebound and Brad Marchand’s shot may or may not have grazed his arm as it went wide. The result of the play was another power play for Boston, with Despres going off for slashing.
It only took 19 seconds for Ryan Spooner to tie it up on the power play. Getzlaf won the faceoff and Vatanen cleared to Rask, but Boston broke right back in. Stoner overcommitted on Eriksson coming into the zone and got roasted by a quick pass to Spooner. He spun to control the pass and released a rocket of a wrist shot over the blocker of Andersen from just inside the faceoff dot. 1-1 Tie.
At this point my DVR crapped out on me so I can only really comment on what's in the boxscore and highlights. Technology…. Am I right?
Despres took his third penalty of the game with 32 seconds left in the middle period that would fatefully carry over into the third.
Third Period:
Just 27 seconds into the final period Andersen kicked out a pretty ugly rebound off of Torey Krug’s point shot and who else but Loui Eriksson tapped the rebound into the empty net. 2-1 Bruins.
Four and a half minutes later Bergeron took a penaty for clearing the puck over the glass, but the Ducks didn't even generate a shot attempt. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they had a tough time breaking into the zone. The good news was that they were still within striking range of the Bruins on the possession front and after that Boston kill for the rest of the game the Ducks were able to take advantage of some score effects. According to the highlights above, the best chance was a wraparound jam play by Palmieri but Rask was able to seal off the post with his skate.
With only 38.5 seconds on the clock and Andersen pulled for the extra attacker, Corey Perry deflected a Getzlaf shot past Rask to tie it back up. The best play on the goal shift were made by Kesler however, diving to keep the play alive in the Boston zone and getting the puck to Fowler who pinched down the wall. To overtime we went.
Overtime:
In the extra session, the Ducks had a power play thanks to Chara hooking Perry, but neither team had so much as a shot attempt until Ryan Getzlaf closed it out at 3:09. Fowler set him up in the middle of the ice to carry in, he used the defenseman as a little bit of a screen and once he got to the top of the circles just ripped it high glove. Ducks Win 3-2.
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The Good: Three of the five total goals (Maroon, Spooner and Getzlaf) were really, really pretty. I was very impressed by Cam Fowler and if this game is any indication Freddy Andersen is rounding back into form after struggling a bit coming off of that injury.
The Bad: Adam McQuaid is a dirty little bastard, but that's what they pay him for.
The Ugly: Confirmation bias? Maybe, but Stoner's puck focus on the Spooner goal was almost as gross as it was on the game winner against Vancouver earlier in the month. Certainly not as bad as that, but come on dude, it's a penalty kill.
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3rd MVD: Corey Perry: – Gotta give some love for an equalizer with only 38.5 seconds on the clock. That makes a four game scoring streak, with five points and three goals. Maybe he's heating up at the right time for once, he said hopefully but trying not to piss off the magumbo……
2nd MVD: Frederik Andersen – Even though the second Boston goal was off of a pretty juicy rebound, he was starting to look like himself again. I still want to see him play more down the stretch to get back into game shape.
1st MVD: Cam Fowler – On top of his assists on the tying goal and the winner, he just seemed to be everywhere tonight, jumping into the play and you can really tell how much he's been working on that shot too. Possession-wise he ended up in the middle of the road, but if there was some kind of unnecessary message being sent by scratching him on Tuesday he responded well. Please don't ever scratch him again.
Next Game: Saturday on Long Island at 10 AM PDT (!?!)