The Anaheim Ducks aren’t exactly itching to take a breather right now.
Corey Perry scored his 20th goal and added an assist and the Ducks continued their recent surge with a 6-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night for their third straight win heading into the All-Star break.
Shea Theodore, David Perron and Ryan Kesler also each had a goal and an assist, and Kevin Bieksa and Mike Santorelli also scored for the Ducks. Anaheim won for the fifth time in six games.
"For the first time this year we don’t want a break," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "At the same time, it’s a good way to go in."
After struggling through the first few months, the Ducks’ offense has come alive in January and was on display after Boston took a 1-0 lead in the opening minute.
Anaheim scored the next four goals, then added two more in the final minute for the its first six-goal game of the season.
"We dug ourselves a hole earlier on in the season and it’s not easy to get out," Perry said. "We have been pushing for a while. You know, good things are starting to happen now."
The Ducks scored 23 goals in their last six games before the break. They return to action in a week at home against San Jose.
Frederik Andersen finished with 32 saves for Anaheim.
Jonas Gustavsson started in goal for Boston but left after the first period with an undisclosed illness. The Bruins said Gustavsson, who has a history of an abnormal heart rhythm, was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for observation. Tuukka Rask took over in goal for the Bruins.
Boston coach Claude Julien said he hadn’t heard any updates on Boston’s backup goalie, who had minor surgery twice to help treat a condition causing an abnormal rhythm. The most recent operation was in February 2011.
"All I was told was that he wasn’t coming back and that we had to put Tuukka in. So there were some issues there, but I didn’t get into specifics," Julien said.
Gustavsson allowed two goals on 16 shots, then was replaced by Rask at the beginning of the second period.
"I just saw he felt ill or something after the first period and that was it," Rask said. "He didn’t say anything. He just pointed to the trainer after the period and that was it. That’s all I know."
Zach Trotman and Zdeno Chara scored for Boston.
The Bruins were coming off a 3-2 win at Philadelphia the night before, when Brett Connolly broke a 2-all tie with just 1:54 left to play. Boston started strong back home Tuesday, and Trotman scored his first goal of the season just 40 seconds into the first period.
Perry tied it at 7:54 of the first off a pass from Perron. Perry helped the Ducks take over the lead with an assist to Theodore on a power-play goal with 5:33 left in the first.
"I wish we knew what happened at the start of the season," Perry said. "We are starting to play the right way and doing a lot of the good things."
Rask looked solid until Perron scored at 11:06 of the second, then Bieksa put Anaheim up 4-1 on a goal with only 2:47 remaining in the period.
The Bruins cut it to 4-2 on Chara’s goal 2:04 into the third period, but Anaheim added two goals in the final minute. Kesler scored an empty-netter with 55 seconds left and Santorelli tipped in a shot with 32 seconds to go.
NOTES: Sami Vatanen had two assists for Anaheim. … Ducks D Simon Despres returned after missing 42 games with concussion symptoms. … The NHL announced earlier Tuesday that Anaheim C Shawn Horcoff was suspended for 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL’s performance-enhancing substances program. … The Bruins entered the game having won five of six. … Boston C Patrice Bergeron’s five-game point streak came to an end. The Bruins are off until they host Toronto next Tuesday.
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