Bruins vs. Ducks: Elias Lindholm's Power-Play Winner Caps Boston's Comeback From 2-0 Down

The Boston Bruins walked into Honda Center with a power play that had converted three times in 18 tries all season, the hockey equivalent of a dial-up modem. They walked out having scored three power-play goals in one night.

Elias Lindholm set up David Pastrnak's tying goal and then scored the go-ahead goal himself in the third period, and the Bruins erased an early two-goal deficit to beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Friday night. It was Boston's fourth straight win, and it came with a pair of firsts: defenseman Frederic Brunet scored his first NHL goal, and goaltender Michael DiPietro earned his first career NHL victory.

Anaheim's 21-Second Haymaker

For most of the first period, the Ducks looked like the better team, and the AP noted they had the best chances. They just had not cashed any of them in. Then the final minute happened.

With 38 seconds left in the frame, Tim Washe slid a wrist shot along the ice from above the left circle. It squeezed through the legs of his own linemate, Jeff Malott, and then through the pads of a screened DiPietro. Jackson LaCombe and Tristan Luneau got the assists, and Anaheim led 1-0.

Twenty-one seconds later, it was 2-0. Beckett Sennecke picked off a Boston clearing attempt in the neutral zone and started a passing sequence that would make a Tiki-Taka coach proud. Sennecke fed Cutter Gauthier, Gauthier touched it to Nikita Nesterenko driving through the right circle, and Nesterenko slipped it back to Sennecke at the far post for the tip-in, his fifth goal of the season.

Ducks coach Joel Quenneville felt his group could have had more. "We had some great looks," he said. "Didn't have the finish to some excellent plays that looked like empty nets."

Boston Chips Away

The comeback started with a shot that not even Brunet believed in. On a power play early in the second, after DiPietro stopped Nesterenko on a short-handed breakaway, Brunet let a snap shot go from just inside the blue line. It fluttered through Lukas Dostal at 3:15, and it was 2-1. James Hagens and Pastrnak assisted.

"Probably the worst shot of my career," Brunet said. "I thought, 'There's no way that went in.'"

The goal came in the sixth NHL game for the 23-year-old, per the AP.

The Turning Point: A Four-Minute Kill and a Free Power Play

With a minute left in the second, Nikita Zadorov was hit with a double minor for elbowing and roughing Frank Vatrano. That handed Anaheim four minutes of power-play time carrying into the third period with a one-goal lead, a chance to put the game away.

The Ducks did not score. Instead, Roger McQueen was called for interference at 2:22 of the third, with 38 seconds still left on the second Zadorov minor, which cut the man advantage short and sent Boston to the power play.

The Bruins pounced. Pastrnak tried to feed Lindholm, Noah Warren broke it up, and the puck bounced right back to Pastrnak, who slid a backhand into the open net at 3:26. 2-2. That goal was the 423rd of Pastrnak's career with Boston, moving him past Brad Marchand into sole possession of fourth in franchise history, according to NHL.com.

Less than five minutes later, Nikita Klepov went off for hooking Matthew Poitras at 7:34, and the Ducks lost track of Lindholm in front. Pavel Zacha found him, and Lindholm tapped it in at 8:18 for a 3-2 lead. Poitras finished a 2-on-1 with Hagens at 16:20 for the 4-2 final.

Lindholm, Pastrnak and the Kid on the Blue Line

Lindholm was the best player on the ice. Along with his goal and assist, he went 18-for-23 on faceoffs as Boston dominated the circle 40-18. Bruins coach Marco Sturm has noticed. "Since Day 1 at training camp he's had a really good jump. He just plays smart out there," Sturm said. "Too many people don't give him credit for that, the way he plays and also the way he helps us to win."

Pastrnak had a goal and an assist and climbed the Bruins' record book. Zacha and Hagens each had two assists, with Hagens doing his work in just 10:03 of ice time.

DiPietro stopped 26 of 28 shots and was a rock on the penalty kill as Anaheim went 0-for-5. "Mikey was our best killer," Sturm said. "Penalty kill did outstanding. Power play was the difference."

Brunet was just as happy for his goalie as himself. "He's one of the hardest workers I've played with, and I think no one deserves it more than him," Brunet said of DiPietro, his former Providence teammate.

For Anaheim, Sennecke logged 23:12 and scored again, while LaCombe played 26:26 with an assist. Dostal made 18 saves on 22 shots.

Stats That Matter

• 3-for-4: Boston's power play on the night, after entering 3-for-18 on the season.
• 0-for-5: Anaheim's power play, including the four-minute chance late in the second and early in the third.
• 40-18: The Bruins' faceoff edge, a 69 percent clip.
• 4-for-20: Gauthier on faceoffs in his first NHL game at center, filling in for injured captain Mikael Granlund.
• 423: Pastrnak's career goals with Boston, fourth in team history.

What It Means

Boston improves to 6-2-0 with 12 points and has won four in a row after a 2-2-0 start. The Bruins keep finding different ways to win, and this time it was special teams and a goaltender making just his second start of the season. Next up is a Saturday visit to Los Angeles.

Anaheim drops to 4-3-0 with eight points and has lost three straight at home while allowing 13 goals in those games, per the AP. It also blew a lead in Tuesday's 4-2 home loss to Calgary. Anaheim had killed 11 straight penalties coming in, then gave up three power-play goals on four Boston chances. The missing Granlund, out with an upper-body injury, did not help, and Gauthier sliding to center for the first time showed it. LaCombe, though, sees progress. "We're starting out well, which we didn't do as much last season, which is good," he said. "But we've got to keep our compete and keep our details throughout the whole game." The Ducks visit the Rangers on Monday.

Closing Take

Sturm said afterward that he was hoping the young Ducks would slow down, and he got his wish. "They had a lot of juice the first half of the game," he said, before adding that it is tough for a young team "to keep that tempo up for 60 minutes." Anaheim played the first half like a team on its third espresso. Boston played the whole 60 like a veteran group that knew the crash was coming.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.