Nov 29, 2014; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau (12) and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen (45) go after a loose puck during the second period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
Next up for the Ducks will be a visit from last season’s President’s Trophy winners, the Boston Bruins. Boston will be embarking on a four-game road trip, including their “California road trip” portion of the schedule. The Bruins are 14-9-1 on the season, good for 4th in the improved Atlantic Division and 7th in the Eastern Conference.
Carl Soderberg leads all Bruins players with 17 points and 12 assists. The Bruins lack a single player who has scored more than five goals this season: Soderberg, Patrice Bergeron, Dougie Hamilton, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, and Seth Griffith each have five goals to be in the tie for the team lead. Captain Zdeno Chara has been out since October 23rd with a PCL tear and will not travel with the team on this road-trip. In his absence, Hamilton and Dennis Seidenberg each have averaged over 22 minutes per game this season. In addition to Chara, the Bruins will travel without center David Krejci.
Point Streaks, General Notes:
Perry moved into second on the team in scoring, with 20 points. Perry has 20 points in 21 games, and if he plays in every game for the rest of the season, he would be on pace for 73 points, including 51 goals. Vatanen moved into a tie with Kesler for third on the team in scoring, with 19 points.
After taking 90 penalty minutes in the last meeting between the Sharks, the Ducks took only 16 on Saturday. Combined, the teams took 165 penalty minutes last time, but only 32 this time. There were three sets of offsetting penalties, and each team received five power-play opportunities. The Ducks’ streak of 18 consecutive killed penalties was ended on Pavelski’s first period power-play goal.
The Ducks only won 33 of 77 faceoffs (42.9%). Smith-Pelly particularly struggled in the circle, losing eight of ten draws. Getzlaf won 11 of 23 draws (47.8%), but he went 9/15 against Thornton and Couture (60%). Kesler won 13 of 25 (52%), including 11 of 20 against Thornton and Pavelski (55%).