Thanks in large part to special teams and a solid defensive effort, the Boston Bruins were able to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 at TD Garden. After a lackluster first period, which was devoid of any real entertainment, the Bruins and Ducks finally decided to play some hockey in the second period.
The Bruins scored twice on the man advantage Thursday night: both power play goals coming in the second frame. In their last two losses, to the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres respectively, the Bruins were a combined 0-for-4 on the power play. David Pastrnak, who netted the first power-play goal, assisted on the second, and ended the night with 3 points, was happy to see the power play unit click.
“You know, the power play didn’t go well, so we try to get little bit movement up top and it worked today,” Pastrnak said after the game. “So, really happy we got some big PP goals.”
Along with the win came some individual milestone achievements for three members of the black and gold. When Bruins defenseman Torey Krug assisted on Pastrnak’s power-play goal at 8:19 of the second period, he recorded his 200th career assist. That assist gave Krug the distinction of having the most assists by an American-born player in Boston history.
“It [the power play] hasn’t been great as of late,” Krug said. “We kind of go through some ups and downs, some stretches where we get complacent and we aren’t working as hard, but tonight we worked. That first one was a little bit ugly, but we worked through it and we got rewarded on the next two with some faceoff plays and some things we designed before the game and we executed it well.”
Playing in his 804th career game, Bruins center David Krejci, who has played the past 8 games on the top line with Brad Marchand and Pastrnak since Patrice Bergeron’s injury, would add the third goal of the night. The goal, which secured the victory for Boston, was also his 600th career point.
“That’s a nice number,” Krejci said. “I have been fortunate enough to play with really good players, so I can’t just give credit to myself.”
Also achieving a milestone was Bruins physical winger David Backes. With his helper on Pastrnak’s goal, he recorded his 300th career assist.
“Well listen,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said, “it’s a team game but individually these players, obviously enjoy having a certain level of success and if the individuals are having success, it breeds team success and vice versa.”
