After falling flat against the Capitals in a 4-1 loss a week ago, Boston bounced back in a big way with a superb effort against Carolina in a 7-2 win Saturday. Now the key will be for the Bruins to repeat that 60-minute effort against a winless but strong Anaheim team.
Head coach Claude Julien expects a tough game, despite the fact the Ducks haven’t won yet. He knows his team is going to need another strong performance because the Ducks will be desperate.“The team that we’re playing is 0-2, but they’re always a character team,” Julien said. “They’ve got a real great coaching staff that won’t let them put their heads down. They’re going to bounce back. I expect a real tough game and they’re going to come out hard wanting to redeem themselves. They’re probably going to be a lot like we were after our embarrassing loss in the opener.”
The Ducks had a similar run to the Bruins’ in the playoffs, coming within one game of the conference finals. They’re a proud, disciplined team as Julien stated earlier this week, and this will be another early season test for the Bruins.
“I know [coach] Randy Carlyle has been very demanding of his players and it’s paid off for him — he’s won himself a Stanley Cup,” he said.
The Bruins lead the all-time series against the Ducks 11-7-2 and are 6-4-0 at home against the team formerly known as The Mighty Ducks Of Anaheim.
The Bruins play the Ducks again on January 13 at Anaheim.
After going 0-for-5 on the power play in the season opener against Washington, the Bruins found their groove against Carolina Saturday, going 4-for-8. They are scoring at a 38.8 percent clip on the man-advantage and rank 12th in the NHL.
The Bruins’ penalty kill was solid as well against Carolina, killing off eight of the Hurricanes’ nine power plays. The Bruins PK. is at 78.6 percent and ranks 15th in the NHL.
The Ducks are scoring at a 22.2 percent clip on the power play and ranked 19th in the NHL.
Anaheim has killed off 63.6 percent of the power plays they’ve faced and ranks 22nd.
Bruins
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Milan Lucic | Marc Savard | Marco Sturm |
| Blake Wheeler | David Krejci | Michael Ryder |
| Mark Recchi | Patrice Bergeron | Chuck Kobasew |
| Shawn Thornton | Steve Begin | Byron Bitz |
| Defenseman | Defenseman |
|---|---|
| Zdeno Chara | Derek Morris |
| Andrew Ference | Dennis Wideman |
| Mark Stuart-Matt Hunwick | Johnny Boychuk |
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Tim Thomas |
| Tukka Rask |
Ducks
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Bobby Ryan |
Ryan Getzlaf |
Corey Perry |
| Joffrey Lupul |
Saku Koivu |
Teemu Selanne |
| Todd Marchant |
Andrew Ebbett/Erik Christensen |
Mike Brown |
| Evgeny Artyukhin |
Ryan Carter |
George Parros |
| Defenseman | Defenseman |
|---|---|
| Scott Niedermayer |
Luca Sbisa |
| Ryan Whitney |
James Wisniewski |
| Steve Eminger |
Nick Boynton/Sheldon Brookbank |
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Jonas Hiller |
| Jean-Sebastien Giguere |
Tim Thomas is 1-1-0 with a 3.00 GAA and a .902 save percentage
DucksJ.S. Giguere is 0-0-1 with a 3.81 GAA and .875 save percentage.
Center Steve Begin has three assists in the first two games.
Forwards Patrice Bergeron (one goal, one assist), Michael Ryder (one goal, one assist), Marco Sturm (one goal, one assist), and defenseman Derek Morris (two assists) all have two points each.
Ducks
Defenseman Ryan Whitney has a goal and two assists in his first two games.
Defenseman James Wisniewski has two helpers in two games.
Forward Ryan Getzlaf has two assists in two games.
Former Bruins forward Petteri Nokelainen is day-to-day with a groin injury.
We like to use all four of our lines and roll through those, and I think it’s served us better. But as far as their style of play, it’s a lot like ours: very aggressive forechecking and they play hard in the neutral zone, they force you to dump pucks in and you can’t make the pretty plays in the neutral zone.”
-Claude Julien on what he expects from the Ducks
Kathryn Tappen believes old-time hockey is back for the next four seasons with Lucic around.
The Lucic contract is “lockout proof” for Lucic.
Tuukka Rask and Johnny Boychuk are patiently waiting their turns.
Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart is the Bruins’ new player rep with the NHLPA after Andrew Ference stepped down.
Ducks
Former Boston University defenseman and Massachusetts native Ryan Whitney is shooting the puck morethese days.
Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer is the sole defenseman left from the 2007 blue line corps that helped Anaheim win the Stanley Cup.
Former Bruins forward Petteri Nokelainen is battling a groin injury.The Red Wings have signed Brad May, who won the Stanley Cup with Anaheim three seasons ago:
The Leafs are in some trouble for potentially tampering.
Ilya Kovalchuk, the Thrashers’ sniper and captain that the Bruins may target at the trade deadline in March, may be closer to re-signing with Atlanta and avoiding free agency next summer.
The Bruins can climb above .500 Thursday, and if they are to do so, they will need to give another solid effort and feed off one of their greatest attributes: passion. Obviously they had extra incentive to beat the Hurricanes after the 4-1 season opening debacle against Carolina and also after being eliminated by the Hurricanes in last year’s playoffs. But they must learn to feed off their passion and emotion every game.
That’s a lot easier said than done, and it is harder against Western Conference teams that they see once or twice a year, but somehow they have to find that drive in this game and in every game.
As always, special teams will be another huge factor. If the Bruins are clicking on the power play and penalty kill as well as avoiding trips to the sin bin, there is always a good chance they will win.Between the pipes, look for Thomas to continue to get better in his third start. He is notorious for slow starts, but he wasn’t horrible in the 4-1 loss and looked great in a game that could have been tough for any goalie facing minimal scoring chances from the opponent against the Canes.
If the Bruins channel their emotions properly, look sharp on special teams and solid between the pipes, expect them to come out with a win.
