BOSTON (AP) - Playing without two key injured stars, the Boston Bruins have relied on their goaltending to get wins lately.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 24 shots, and David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists to lead the Bruins to a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
“I really wanted him to get another shutout,” David Krejci said. “Both goaltenders have been really good with (Zdeno Chara) and (Patrice) Bergeron out of the lineup.”
Bergeron has missed the last 15 games and is anticipating a return this weekend. Chara has missed the last 16 games while Boston has gone 9-6-1 in that span.
Torey Krug had a goal and an assist and Krejci also scored to help Boston snap a nine-game losing streak to Anaheim and win for the fifth time in seven games.
“We don’t see them too often so it was nice to flip the script,” Krug said.
Ducks defenseman Josh Mahura got his first career goal with 4:16 remaining to spoil Halak’s bid for a second straight shutout. John Gibson finished with 28 saves as Anaheim lost its second straight after winning nine of 10.
“We didn’t play anywhere near we were capable of,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “Didn’t think we had much pushback in the third which was disappointing.”
Pastrnak’s power-play goal broke a scoreless tie when he one-timed Krug’s pass past Gibson at 7:19 of the second period. With his assists on the other two goals, he has 14 points in his past eight games.
Halak made the save of the game with 6:31 remaining in the second when he stoned Brandon Montour robbing him with a glove save.
Krug increased Boston’s lead to 2-0 on the power play when he converted a feed from Brad Marchand past Gibson with 1:55 remaining in the second.
“We didn’t have the same intensity as we’ve had,” Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano said. “No excuse.We are a few games away from Christmas break and we let a few games get away after we had a good thing going.”
Krejci added an insurance goal 5:21 into the third to cap the scoring for Boston, which shut out Montreal in its previous game.
NOTES: Anaheim and Minnesota are the only two teams to have a winning record in Boston. … Krejci recorded his 600th NHL point and has eight points in his last six games. … David Backes recorded his 300th NHL assist and Krug recorded his 200th assist for the Bruins. … Anaheim has totaled two goals in the two games.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Visit Buffalo on Saturday.
Bruins: Host Nashville on Saturday
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