Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook! With the exception of a beautiful Danton Heinen backhand goal that left Anaheim netminder John Gibson swimming, the Bruins had nothing to show for a completely dominant second period. That’s a shame, but also seems par for the course in what ended as yet another loss for the Bruins, this one by a 4-2 final to the Ducks on Wednesday night. In a manageable 0-1 hole through the opening 20 minutes of play, the Bruins straight-up rolled the Ducks for the first half of that middle frame, with the period’s first 12 shots coming off Boston sticks, and with the aforementioned Heinen goal making things even. The Bruins should have had much more than just the Heinen goal, too, as Gibson robbed Riley Nash with a tremendous save less than four minutes into the second period. But Anaheim’s second “shot… of the period was really just a puck banked off the skate of Zdeno Chara and through Tuukka Rask for the go-ahead goal. The goal, credited to Josh Manson, was more than enough to take the wind of the B’s sails and make Rask throw his hands up in frustration, and was followed by a Nick Ritchie net-front putaway scored with just 47 seconds left in the period. It's almost impossible to imagine that a period that favored the Bruins in shot by a 15-to-3 mark somehow ended with the Ducks holding a 3-1 lead. To make matters worse, a relentless Corey Perry forced a Kevan Miller turnover and rifled home a shot tipped by Derek Grant just 2:35 into the third period, which firmly buried the Bruins. And despite a season-high 40 shots on Gibson, including a breakaway opportunity for Nash, it was not until the 59:38 mark of this game that the Bruins found their second and final goal of the game, scored by fourth-line winger Noel Acciari and with just 22 seconds left to erase a two-goal deficit. That obviously did not happen, either, as Bruce Cassidy’s Bruins walked off as losers for the fourth straight contest, and for the seventh time in their last nine games overall. There's a lot to dissect if you're the Bruins, but this latest defeat really comes back to that 4:49 second period segment and its two simple shots that allowed the Ducks to nullify yet another should-have-been game-changing stretch for the Bruins. This is basically the theme of their recent losses, too, as the Bruins have routinely taken over large segments of games, but typically struggled to break things open in order to pull away from the opposition. That comes back to the reality that this Black and Gold group, currently limited by both injuries and a multitude of young-faced players still trying to build their game into legitimately and consistently NHL-ready, lacks the finishing prowess needed to beat quality netminders with any sort of regularity. It appears difficult for this group to even beat average-at-best goaltenders, as last Saturday’s 38-of-39 performance from the Leafs’ Curtis McElhinney -- and on Garden ice, no less -- told you. With that inability to capitalize on the ebb and flow of the game that favors their shorthanded group, it's just become tough to imagine the Bruins mustering much of anything when they go against teams that hold a definite advantage over them in departments such as size, experience, speed, and/or offensive timing. Y'know, just about everything that this game is based upon, and just about everything that they're missing right now.
This and that
- The Bruins are now 5-for-34 on the power play since losing David Krejci to an upper-body injury. That’s the 8th-worst mark in the NHL over that span. The Bruins had a league-best 29.4 power-play percentage before Krejci was injured. Stop trying to say that this dude isn’t an important piece of the puzzle for the Black and Gold. They really need him back and healthy in the absolute worst way.
- Make it 0-5-0 with an .846 save percentage in five career games in Anaheim for Rask. Excluding Vegas (just a one-game sample size), Anaheim is one of two cities in which the 30-year-old Rask has yet to record a victory. Washington is the other. He’s winless in 10 decisions at the Verizon Center. The Bruins as a team have not won in Anaheim since 2012, and just once in their last eight trips.
- This game featured nearly $54 million on the shelf between the battered Bruins and wounded Ducks. The most expensive Duck out with an injury? The $8.25 million Ryan Getzlaf. Krejci is the most expensive ailing Bruin, by the way, at $7.25 million per season. Basically an NFL game, really.
Up next
The Bruins will have a quick turnaround with a Thursday night head-to-head with the Kings. The Kings defeated the Bruins with :00.9 seconds left in overtime in their last meeting.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.