Rakell helps Ducks rally past Bruins
BOSTON -- Rickard Rakell continued his hot streak with a goal and an assist and the Anaheim Ducks rallied from a two-goal, first-period deficit and defeated the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Thursday night.
The Ducks' sixth straight win over Boston also gave Anaheim a 7-2-1 record over the last 10 games.
Rakell broke a 3-3 tie with his eighth goal (to go with three assists) in the last 12 games as the Ducks took the lead at 5:02 of the second period -- ending the scoring.
He beat Anton Khudobin, who made 23 saves but fell to 1-5 on the season. The Bruins are 1-8 in games not started by Tuukka Rask.
Andrew Cogliano, Kevin Bieksa and Josh Manson also scored for the Ducks, while Zdeno Chara, Austin Czarnik and David Krejci scored for the Bruins against Jonathan Bernier.
Krejci actually scored one for each team, batting Cogliano's goal into the net. The goal, the third by the two teams in 37 seconds, was originally credited to Jakob Silfverberg but later changed.
Jonathan Bernier made 31 saves and is 6-2-1 on the season.
The loss was the fifth in the last six games for the Bruins, who did get a point out of three of the games. They also dropped their third straight at home, where they fell to 7-8-0.
The Bruins, who lost in overtime at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night, after winning in OT Monday at Montreal, dropped to 1-5 on the back end of back-to-backs.
The win came in the second game of Anaheim's six-game road trip.
The Bruins were guilty of two penalties in the first 5:01 but killed off both Anaheim power plays. Then, with the game scoreless, the teams began the 37-second goal spurt.
Chara scored his first goal since Oct. 17 -- the seventh this season by a Bruins defenseman. Then, 13 seconds later, Ryan Spooner found Czarnik, who scored his second goal in the past three games.
The two quick goals made it seven unanswered against the Ducks dating back to their Tuesday night game in Dallas.
However, Anaheim struck 24 seconds later, and it was Cogliano getting credit for the goal, which was actually knocked in by Krejci.
The Ducks tied it at 17:50 of the opening period when Bieksa, coming out of the penalty box, took a long pass from Ryan Getzlaf and went in alone to beat Khudobin with his first goal since Nov. 4. The Bruins challenged, claiming Bieksa was offside, but, while he did back in with the puck coming in after him, he was clearly in control of it and the challenge was denied.
Just 55 seconds in the second period, Manson scored his first of the season off a scramble, giving Anaheim a 3-2 lead. However, the Bruins went on the power play at 1:30, and Krejci scored his sixth of the year at 2:06.
The Ducks hit two posts later in the middle period.
NOTES: The Bruins recalled LW Anton Blidh from Providence and sent LW Danton Heinan to the same team. ... The Ducks came into the game leading the NHL in faceoff percentage while the Bruins were third. The Ducks were 3.1 percent better than the No. 2 Colorado Avalanche. Anaheim's Ryan Kesler was second and Antoine Vermette sixth while Boston's Patrice Bergeron was third. ... The Bruins lead the league with eight players making their NHL debuts this season. Arizona is second with six. ... Bruins D Matt Grzelcyk, a local product whose father works on the TD Garden hockey/basketball conversion crew, made his home debut after playing in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. ... Ducks LW Andrew Cogliano played in his 735th straight game, the longest active streak and sixth-longest streak in league history. ... The Ducks continue their six-game road trip at Detroit on Saturday. The Bruins host the Los Angeles Kings in a Sunday matinee.