The Boston Bruins completed their third game of the California section of the first road trip of the season on Sunday, Oct. 22 facing off against the Anaheim Ducks. The Bruins came into the game undefeated so far in the 2023-24 season while the Ducks entered 1-3, their single win coming against the Carolina Hurricanes. But, it was clear from the opening minutes of the game that they were a better team than their record may indicate.
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The game came on the back of an exciting 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings the night before that saw an overall good performance from up and down the roster with a particularly great performance from the captain, Brad Marchand.
This matchup was not as good of a performance by the Bruins as they had the night before against the Kings. It was the first back-to-back of the season, and it showed. The team overall felt sluggish and just not on the ball. The Ducks were the better team for the majority of the game, but the Bruins stuck with it and still found a way to come out on top with a 3-1 victory, the marks of a top-tier team.
Marchand – Zacha – Pastrnak Line Up and Down
With the 2023-24 season less than two weeks old, there is still plenty of tweaking to be done with this roster, particularly on the offensive lines as Jim Montgomery and the coaching staff try to find the right combinations of players to find success. After Marchand, Pavel Zacha, and David Pastrnak had success on the top line against the Kings, the three were put together again against the Ducks and found similar success and chemistry.
The three combined for seven points against the Kings with Marchand and Pastrnak coming out of the game with three points each. Those two obviously have experience playing together after several years of being the “Perfection Line” with Patrice Bergeron. After being split up for most of last season, they’ve come back together with Zacha at center and have barely missed a beat.
The line generated a number of opportunities and shots on goal early, but were not perfect. They were on the ice for Mason McTavish’s goal at the start of the third and Pastrnak was beaten. But they are three of the Bruins’ best players for a reason and still found ways to be impactful. All three were excellent on special teams, with Zacha playing almost a full two-minute shift of 4-on-4 in the second period.
It may not have been their best performance, but I think this line performed well enough to stick together a bit longer, particularly when it seems the second line of Morgan Geekie, Matthew Poitras, and Jake DeBrusk has some chemistry developing.
Special Teams Patterns Continue
The Bruins were excellent on the penalty kill last season and they continue to be excellent this season. If it weren’t for the late goal they allowed against the Kings, it would have been perfect coming into their game against the Ducks. They went on the kill early in the game, and looked like they were the team on the powerplay. DeBrusk in particular was good on the penalty kill during their game against the Ducks. Johnny Beecher was also quite good.
While they were excellent on the penalty kill, the same cannot be said about the powerplay, also continuing another trend from last season. It was the one area of weakness during their historic 2022-23 regular season. Even with the addition of a great net-front presence like James van Riemsdyk, who was excellent against the Nashville Predators, the powerplay continues to be an area that could use improvement through the first five games of the season. Against Anaheim, they were scoreless on the powerplay. On their second opportunity during the first period, they also came close to allowing a shorthanded goal to be scored, which is obviously not something you want to be seeing.
It’s still early, but the Bruins have some kinks to work out on the powerplay. They did a decent job at drawing penalties against the Ducks. Now they just need to convert on their opportunities.
Linus Ullmark and Matthew Poitras Were the Best Players
The Bruins had excellent goaltending in the 2022-23 season and so far it has continued into 2023-24. Linus Ullmark was easily the best player in this game. The Ducks have some excellent young forwards who had a number of opportunities, but he held down the net well throughout the game. With the amount of opportunities they had, particularly McTavish, it was only a matter of time until they were going to get one in like they did at the beginning of the third period.
Ullmark had a number of great saves in this game, particularly in the second period. This game easily could have been a loss if it weren’t for an excellent performance by him. He and Jeremy Swayman have been the early MVPs of the season and are well on their way to being the best tandem in the league again.
Poitras was excellent in this game and with two goals, may have very well earned a permanent spot on the roster. Before this game, it was uncertain whether or not he’d be sent back to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) after his initial nine games. Now I think there is a very good chance he sticks around for the full season. He was not mistake-free in this game, no one was, but he found ways to make up for his mistakes. On every shift, he looked like he was genuinely playing his heart out. I’m excited to see what he does the rest of the season and his ascent to the NHL could not have come at a better time for the organization.
Final Notes From Anaheim
Charlie Coyle made himself known physically during a number of moments against the Kings and it continued with the Ducks. While at times it led to penalties, including the two he took against the Kings and another in the second period against the Ducks, it did also lead to him drawing an interference penalty and a powerplay opportunity for the Bruins. It continues a trend from the preseason of him taking more penalties than usual.
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Ian Mitchell had some struggles in his season debut against the Kings and they continued against the Ducks. The icings are not great. The two penalties he had were worse. As the seventh man on the depth chart, he is not making a very convincing case to try and move up. His best moment in both games came on his assist on Poitras’ first NHL goal.
The Bruins next play Tuesday, Oct. 24 in Chicago against the Blackhawks to finish up the first road trip of the season. It will be their second matchup after defeating them in the season opener, 3-1.
