The Boston Bruins arrive in Anaheim to face the Ducks on Friday with momentum from a one-sided victory, but also with a reminder to expect more of themselves.
The Bruins are riding a three-game winning streak after opening their four-game road trip with a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, but the coach's assessment after the final buzzer? It was a far-from-perfect performance.
The clash was tied 2-2 near the midway point before Boston pulled away, but the Sharks heavily outshot and outchanced the visitors all night.
"Not our best game," said Bruins coach Marco Sturm. "There were a few too many turnovers and a little bit sloppy, but we found a way to win a hockey game. That's important, too. That's what good teams do is find ways to close out, especially on the road."
Even if it was an imperfect performance, the Bruins have reasons to be happy. Fraser Minten, who had a breakout 17-goal season in 2025-26, tallied twice in the victory, and has seven points (four goals, three assists) in seven games to start the campaign.
The Bruins also benefited from the return of defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who missed the first six games due to a suspension handed him during last season's playoffs. McAvoy scored in the first period.
"It was just fun to be playing again. That was nice (to score)," McAvoy said. "I thought that was a big-boy shift, and we were trying to hold onto the puck. Just tried to break them down, and it was a great pass by JJ (Peterka)."
Anaheim has won five straight against the Bruins. However, there are a couple trends that are foremost in the Ducks' minds.
They have dropped two of three on home ice to start this season, which includes a disappointing 4-2 loss to the lowly Calgary Flames on Tuesday. Calgary, which lost at home to the Ducks three days prior, opened the season with five regulation losses.
"That's one of those games at the end of the year, you'll say we let them run a table," said Ducks coach Joel Quenneville. "There was two (points) there, and that was bothersome."
Anaheim held a 2-1 lead after the first period thanks to a pair of goals 1:54 apart by Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson, but was outplayed the rest of the way.
"We started good, but they just looked kind of quicker than us," Sennecke said.
The Ducks have other concerns before they leave for a four-game East Coast road trip after the Boston clash.
On Thursday, Anaheim announced center Mikael Granlund is day-to-day due to an upper-body injury. Granlund (two goals, six assists) became the first player in franchise history to open a season with points in the opening six games.
Anaheim played Tuesday without forwards Cutter Gauthier (day-to-day, upper body) and Ryan Poehling, who suffered a lower-body injury expected to keep him out for at least six weeks. The Ducks started the season without veteran forward Troy Terry, who had offseason hip surgery expected to keep him on the shelf until at least late November.
--Field Level Media