Henrique scores twice, Ducks end Bruins' streak with 3-1 win
BOSTON (AP) - A quick start for the Anaheim Ducks finished Boston's run of 18 straight games with a point.
Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg scored in the first period, when Anaheim held Boston to just five shots, and the Ducks held on for a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.
"We did a good job in the first period. We had some jump going," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.
The Ducks became the first team to beat the Bruins in regulation since Washington's 5-3 win Dec. 14 at Boston. Cam Fowler and Rickard Rakell had two assists apiece for Anaheim.
John Gibson stopped all 25 shots he faced before leaving in the third period after taking a puck off his chest earlier in the period. Ryan Miller played the final 7:25 and nearly completed a shutout for the Ducks before Ryan Spooner scored for Boston with 41 seconds left.
"We're trying to get on a streak of our own. I think we've been trending in the right direction with our hockey," Miller said.
Henrique scored into an empty net with 6.1 seconds remaining to seal it for the Ducks, who halted Boston's five-game winning streak and a stretch of 18 games with at least one point (14-0-4), which tied for the second-longest in franchise history.
"At some point it's going to happen. Hopefully we realize we need to be good from when they drop the puck," Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. "We weren't moving our feet at the beginning. We had no forecheck or sustained pressure."
Anton Khudobin stopped 24 shots for the Bruins, who never recovered after being outshot 15-5 in the first period and falling behind 2-0 on goals by Silfverberg and Henrique.
"I thought we did a good job of that, controlling the play and obviously coming out with the lead," Henrique said. "Especially against this team at home, with the way they've been playing for a really long time, it was a big start for us."
The Ducks have won eight straight against the Bruins, who haven't beaten Anaheim since a 3-2 shootout win on Oct. 21, 2013.
The Bruins, who got away with several slow starts while riding their streak into the All-Star break, could not rally this time.
"It was disappointing the way we came out. We got the result that shows for it," Bergeron said. "You're not going to be able to get back in games every time."
Anaheim took a 1-0 lead when Khudobin couldn't quite hang onto a long backhand by Fowler. The puck fell from Khudobin's glove and slid across the crease, where it appeared to be knocked in by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara as he went crashing into his own net 9:04 into the game. Silfverberg was credited with the goal and assists went to Fowler and Rakell, who set up the Ducks' second goal a few minutes later when Henrique scored.
The Ducks were on a power play and worked the puck around the corners, then to Henrique in the right circle for a wrist shot that beat Khudobin on the stick side at 13:59.
"We get a bounce that went our way and then we scored a power-play goal to give us a 2-0 game and we kind of rode that the rest of the way," Carlyle said. "I think we were guilty of trying to play too cute in the second. We had opportunities to direct pucks toward the net and we decided to pass off. We got a little bit sloppy in the neutral ice with turnovers. We can't do that."
Gibson needed a few minutes to regroup after a hard shot from Bergeron hit him in the ribs early in the third, then ended up leaving with 7:25 left and was replaced by Miller.
"He looked like he was kind of having a little trouble. Hopefully it's nothing that's going to affect him too long," Miller said.
NOTES: The Ducks opened a five-game road trip against Atlantic Division teams. ... Boston LW Anders Bjork left after the first period with an upper-body injury. ... Boston was without leading scorer Brad Marchand, who sat out the second of a five-game suspension for throwing an elbow last week against New Jersey.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Bruins: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
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