Preview: Bruins @ Ducks (5/82) - Waiting All Day For Sunday Night

Recent Performance

The Ducks are once again faced with a weekend back-to-back, having played yesterday in Arizona and falling 2-1 in that contest. Penalties have continued to be an issue for the team, and while the 5v5 metrics remain promising, the results are not going to go their way if they find themselves on the PK frequently (especially given the fact that their PK has not been stellar, currently 68.2% and ranked 28th in the NHL). The Bruins will be a very difficult test, as they have yet to lose this season and have a dynamic power play, so the Ducks will need to find ways to keep up and force pressure without ending up in the box.

The Boston Bruins just played last night in LA, coming away with a 4-2 victory over the Kings. David Pastrnak has five goals already on the season through four games, which probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to many who have watched him play. Boston set the record last season for most wins in the regular season in NHL history with 65, so despite the fact that they lost both David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron in the offseason, the team is still very much a contender.

Players to Watch

Anaheim Ducks - John Gibson. Gibson is 0-2 on the season so far and will get the start today after Lukas Dostal started yesterday in Tempe. Gibson will need to have a solid performance if the Ducks are going to stand a chance of coming away with points against the Bruins, particularly if penalties continue to be an issue tonight.

Boston Bruins - The easy answer here is David Pastrnak. He can score from just about anywhere and the Ducks are still working on sorting out new defensive systems and strategies. The improvement vs last year is already noticeable, as the Ducks 5v5 metrics are considerably better, but if you put the Bruins on the power play three or more times, I would be very surprised if Pastrnak doesn’t find the back of the net yet again tonight.

Stat Pack

prediction

Anaheim has now lost their last two after a very encouraging 6-3 win over Carolina. They have been faced with a very tough schedule early in the season, already having played three Cup contenders in Vegas, Carolina, and Dallas. They’ll add one more to the list tonight with Boston. I’ll go out on a limb and say that not only does the penalty issue take a positive step today with no more than two minor penalties on the night, I’ll say the Ducks push this one to OT but fall by a score of 3-2.