4 takeaways from the Bruins’ shootout win over the Ducks
Linus Ullmark made 30 saves for the Bruins in the win.
At some point, the high-scoring Boston Bruins knew they’d have to grind out a painful two points. That development came to fruition during Thursday’s tilt with the rebuilding Anaheim Ducks.
The Bruins and Ducks hardly embarked on a proverbial track meet in this early season intraconference tilt. Neither team could establish extensive stretches of puck possession in their respective attacking ends of the ice.
In the rare times they did, Linus Ullmark and John Gibson were up to the task. And both teams capitalized on second-period turnovers, with Taylor Hall netting his first of the year on an errant Gibson pass and Frank Vatrano striking against his former team after Jack Studnicka’s errant poke check at Boston’s offensive blue-line led to a 2-on-1 in the other direction.
The mistakes continued into the third and overtime. Studnicka (again) and Lindholm took untimely penalties in the final stanza. Derek Grant continued the trend after tripping David Pastrnak late in the 3-on-3 extra session.
Ullmark and Gibson shined during OT. They each went 3-for-3 in the regulation portion of the shootout. But the Bruins got the last laugh as Hall beat Gibson five-hole and Ullmark denied Max Comtois in the fourth round of the glorified skills competition to secure the B’s ugly 2-1 victory.
“We found a way to get two points,” head coach Jim Montgomery said afterward. “It’s a hard league to win in, and we’re going to enjoy the two points. But, we’re not going to be happy with the team play.”
Here’s what we learned after the Bruins improved to 4-1 on the young season.
Hall shined in a bounce-back effort.
Hall entered the regular season a little behind schedule after sustaining an upper-body injury late in training camp. Because of that development, Hall spent the first week of the 2022-23 campaign in catchup mode.
Rust didn’t hinder Hall initially as he lit the lamp in Boston’s season-opening win over the Washington Capitals. The 2010 top overall pick didn’t produce a single point over the next three games and even found himself riding the bench in the third period of the B’s 7-5 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Clearly hoping for a bounce-back effort, Hall went from a season-low 11:55 time on ice in Ottawa to a season-best 18:00 against Anaheim. He looked like his usual self, creating scoring chances throughout the night for himself and his linemates.
“It wasn’t the preseason that I wanted, getting injured and not getting the game reps. Exhibition games are more about getting the legs under you and feeling like you can play with pace, especially for a player like me,” Hall said of his early-season performance(s). “I hadn’t played well the last couple of games, and it was personal for me — whether I got on the board or not — to find my game in the way I have to play all season long. Tonight was a decent step.”
Hall carried the offensive load on a night where the Bruins struggled to generate quality looks against a stingy Anaheim D.
At times Ullmark had to bail out the flat-footed Bruins. But Hall remained assertive with and without the puck, catching Montgomery’s eye in the process.
“I thought Taylor Hall was our best skater tonight, and Linus was our best player,” Montgomery said. “I bet you he had the puck on his stick for about 45 seconds tonight. And when an offensive player — a gifted offensive player — like Taylor Hall has the puck on his stick tonight, he feels better about himself. You saw the rest of his game [shine]. He made some good defensive plays; he made a hard hit. You know, he was really involved in the game.”
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