ANAHEIM — The Boston Bruins were once billed as “big and bad” but they were just bad at Honda Center on Wednesday night, when the Ducks devoured them 6-2 in perhaps their most commanding victory of 2024-25.

The Ducks moved to within two points of a .500 percentage while Boston’s ship seemed incapable of staying afloat, no matter how many tons of tea were thrown overboard. They lost their seventh straight decision and have been outscored by 23 goals during their ill-timed, injury-riddled and departure-influenced funk.

Jackson LaCombe scored a goal and assisted on one of two by Leo Carlsson, with Nikita Nesterenko, Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish also lighting the lamp. Alex Killorn contributed two assists. John Gibson halted 23 pucks. All five goal-scorers were aged 23 or under. It was the 11th time this season that the Ducks scored five or more goals, going 11-0-0 in those games.

Morgan Geekie had a goal and set up one by David Pastrnak for Boston. Former Kings goalie Joonas Korpisalo bore the brunt of a listless night in front of him and made some errors of his own, stopping 31 of 37 shots. Top defenseman Charlie McAvoy practiced in a non-contact jersey on Tuesday, but did not play Wednesday and will not return during this road trip, Boston coach Joe Sacco said.

That Boston practice was focused on puck battles and competitiveness following a 7-2 booting by the Kings on Sunday. Those two days off seemed to do little for the flagging, sagging Bruins.

The Ducks dominated Boston in the first period, tripling them up with a 15-5 shot advantage and garnering over 86% of the expected goals for, per Natural Stat Trick. Their edge was in the mid 90s well into the frame, but they didn’t score until 2:27 remained, and did so short-handed.

A puck battle in the Ducks’ zone saw Carlsson emerge with possession, moving into the neutral zone and feathering a pass to Killorn. Killorn’s return pass eluded the long reach of Mason Lohrei, setting up Carlsson’s rising shot to the short side. Killorn’s silky saucer pass was his 300th career assist, which extended his scoring streak to three games.

The Ducks’ dominance continued in the second stanza, and they’d extend their lead to three goals at intermission. They maintained a 3:1 shot ratio, at 28-9, and had 15 high-danger chances to the Bruins’ one.

They first pounced on one of Boston’s many miscues in the neutral zone. Defenseman Michael Callahan failed to corral the puck at the offensive blue line, sending him stumbling into a neutral-zone foot race with Nesterenko. The Brooklyn-born Nesterenko rumbled ahead and slipped a point-blank shot through Korpisalo at the 13:58 mark.

During the goal, Callahan took his frustration out on Jansen Harkins, cross-checking him up high (Harkins would later avenge in a third-period fight). Less than a minute into the ensuing power play power play, the Ducks racked up 14 penalty minutes during a scrum near the boards. Frank Vatrano took exception to Parker Wotherspoon and slammed him to the ice, pinning him amid the fracas.

As a result, the Bruins would soon have a two-man advantage, which they made good on by converting on a quick-hitting play to Pastrnak.