Recap: Roy's First Career Goal Helps Ducks to 4-2 Victory Over Boston

ANAHEIM - In a battle of the battered, it was Anaheim's healthy charges who prevailed tonight at Honda Center.

With both the Ducks and Boston Bruins missing a number of key players to injury, Anaheim ground out a 4-2 victory in the penultimate contest of its five-game homestand. Rookie
Kevin Roy
scored the first goal of his NHL career, while Josh Manson, Nick Ritchie and Derek Grant also tallied as the Ducks improved to 8-7-3 on their bumpy season.
Anaheim also continued to own Boston, earning an eighth straight victory over the Bruins.
"You're always desperate for wins in this league," Manson said. "We're banged up right now. We have a lot of injuries. We're trying to get through it and come out on the good side of it. Just trying to get through it until we get guys back. We've been doing a pretty decent job. There are a lot of things we need to tighten up on. The urgency is there right now to get some wins."
In addition to the already missing Ryan Getzlaf, Patrick Eaves, Ryan Kesler, Cam Fowler, Ondrej Kase, Jared Boll and Ryan Miller, defenseman Hampus Lindholm was scratched before the game with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Korbinian Holzer was actually moved to one of the winger spots to account for the dearth of Ducks forwards.
Meanwhile, Boston lost forwards Brad Marchand and Anders Bjork to injuries suffered last Saturday vs. Toronto, adding to an injured list that already includes David Krejci, Ryan Spooner, David Backes and Adam McQuaid.
Roy's first NHL goal in his third game gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead with 6:34 left in the first, as the 24-year-old former fourth-round pick punched a bouncing puck over the shoulder of goalie Tuukka Rask.

"I didn't see it. I just heard the noise and saw the players around me," Roy said. "It just felt awesome. It's a moment you dream of. Getting the first one is pretty special."
Roy played college hockey at Northeastern University in Boston, where he was teammates with Manson for two seasons. "Playing Boston, I knew he would bring his A game," Manson said. "I told him I thought he would get his first. It was awesome. I couldn't be more happy for him. He's worked really hard. I've seen the progress through college. He's a goal scorer. It's the first of many."
Boston tied it close to the midway point of the second when Danton Heinen waited out goalie John Gibson before roofing a backhand over him.
A fluky goal put the Ducks in front 14 minutes into the period, as Manson threw a loose puck toward the top of the crease, where it ricocheted off Zdeno Chara's skate and slipped over the stripe for Manson's first of the season.

A much prettier one came with under a minute left in the frame when Antoine Vermette made a pretty cross-ice feed that Ritchie deflected just under the crossbar. The 35-year-old Vermette played in his 1,000th NHL game tonight in a career that has included stints in Ottawa, Columbus, Arizona and Chicago.

The Ducks managed just three shots in that period, scoring on two of them. "We didn't play very well, that's for sure," Corey Perry said. "I don't think we had a shot until eight minutes left in the second [period]. We found a way to score a goal and get another one right after. It's not the way we want to play, but we'll take it."
A two-goal lead became three 2 1/2 minutes into the third period when Perry stole the puck and whipped a shot from the high slot that sailed through a Grant screen past Rask. The goal was originally credited to Perry, but it was later determined that Grant got a piece of it with his pant leg for his fourth of the season. He had previously gone 91 career games without a goal and now has four in his last 12.

Gibson maintained his form with 40 saves -- including two on a breakaway opportunity for Riley Nash with 6:15 left in the game -- though Boston got a goal with just 22 seconds to make the final score 4-2.
The Ducks close out their homestand Sunday vs. Florida on the highly anticipated Hall of Fame Night, in which Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya will be honored throughout the evening for their recent induction. The pregame ceremony starts at 4:45 p.m.
"That's what we talked about after the game, what's ahead of us," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We have this time here to get our hockey club playing well and to make sure we take the necessary steps to prepare for Sunday because that's the most important one. Hopefully we can build off a strong game there and carry it through into next week."