*** 2021-22 Playoffs Opening Round: Boston Bruins (WC1) at Carolina Hurricanes (M1) - (CAR WINS 4-3) ***

[mojo1917 5,414]

It's 2-0 and the Bruins haven't played in TD Garden yet, so the series is far from over.

Carolina held serve is the way to look at it from a glass half full Bruins fan's perspective.

But sheesh, Boston has not looked competitive since period 2 of game 1.

The Canes have matched the physical intensity Boston brings to a series and combined it with their stifling stick on puck defense. Carolina is looking like the best team in the East from the games I've watched. 

This one might be over quickly, I don't think the Canes goaltending will be a factor in this series.

That to me is the weak link of their roster, Raanta's status is unknown after leaving last night's game.

As they get deeper in the tournament and play deeper teams, goaltending is going to become more important.

 

 

[radoran 9,327]

13 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

The Canes have matched the physical intensity Boston brings to a series and combined it with their stifling stick on puck defense.

 

This team has all the hallmarks of how Rod Brind'amour played the game. A true Hurricane legend.

 

[Jimtown guy 1,976]

[FireDillabaugh 225]

Kochetkov played well in the game.  As he has in every game he's played in for the Canes.  There's nothing in his game to suggest that he is a "weak link" in any way.  Especially when he has the team playing the way they are in front of him.  If anything, the team has found their cinderella story, diamond in the rough with him.

 

Absolutely LOVED seeing him go at Marchand.  And Marchand's slash retaliation(to a simple glove push) should have been looked at by the league as another possible suspension.

 

I might have to also change my vote here to 4 games instead of 5.  Boston only looks like a team that has absolutely no place in these playoffs.

Edited May 5 by FireDillabaugh

[TropicalFruitGirl26 5,420]

According to NHL.com, the Bruins will be turning to Jeremy Swayman between the pipes for Game 3 in Boston.
Ullmark had his shot, now they will see if the younger goalie fares any better.

May not make much of a difference though if the Bruins can't score goals though.

Also, possibility Antti Raanta is ready to go again for the Hurricanes when the series resumes.

[Brewin Flames 747]

Marchand, Swayman give Bruins 4-2 win, Canes lead series 2-1

 

 

---

ByAP

Updated: 6 hours ago

 

BOSTON -- — For 16 periods over six games, the Carolina Hurricanes dominated the Boston Bruins.

 

Five straight wins — including two in the playoffs. Twenty-six goals to three. Never did the Hurricanes even trail the Bruins over 325 minutes, 41 seconds.

 

“It's been a while,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said, noting that the teams didn't play in the pandemic-shortened 2021 season, so they hadn't beaten Carolina since 2020. “Playing with a lead, we’ve talked about it enough. It makes a difference for both teams.”

 

Brad Marchand scored the go-ahead goal to give Boston its first lead against Carolina all season. Then he added a pair of assists to help the Bruins hold on and beat the Hurricanes 4-2 in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

 

Bruins rookie Jeremy Swayman stopped 25 shots in his first career playoff start after Linus Ullmark allowed eight goals in the first two games, both Hurricanes victories. That followed a regular season in which Carolina swept all three games, outscoring the Bruins 16-1 and never trailing.

 

Charlie Coyle scored a short-handed goal and added an assist, and David Pastrnak had a power-play goal and an assist for Boston, which hopes to even the best-of-seven series when it hosts Game 4 on Sunday. Taylor Hall added a power-play goal for the Bruins to make it 4-1 early in the third period.

 

“When J.D. (Jake DeBrusk) and C.C. made that play short-handed to get us back in the game, it just changed the whole demeanor,” Marchand said. “We had been playing catch-up all series. It just felt good to know we can respond.”

 

Vincent Trocheck and Jaccob Slavin scored for Carolina, and backup goalie Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves in his first career playoff start. He took over in Game 2 after starter Antti Raanta was injured in a collision with Pastrnak.

 

Trocheck gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead, swiping in a rebound just as he was belatedly knocked down in front of the net. But Coyle tied it on a 2-on-1 give-and-go with DeBrusk with 2:44 left in the first.

 

“Obviously, that’s a huge goal for them,” Slavin said. “Our power play should be giving us momentum, not taking it away.”

 

Five minutes into second, Marchand fought for the puck along the boards and headed for the slot, where he picked up Patrice Bergeron’s deflected shot and went high over Kochetkov. It was Boston's first lead over the Hurricanes since eliminating them in the first round of the 2020 postseason.

 

“We know what the issue was,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “We had a decent first period and then the power play gave up a shorty and they got some life out of it.”

 

The Hurricanes took back-to-back penalties late in the second, and soon after the 5-on-3 became a one-man advantage, Pastrnak wristed one in from the left circle to make it 3-1.

 

PLAYER OUT

 

The Hurricanes lost forward Jordan Martinook in the second period when he got his legs tangled up with Hall. Martinook got back on his skates, but couldn’t put any weight on his right ankle.

 

He went down the tunnel and the Hurricanes said he would not return.

 

“That one's going to be questionable,” Brind'Amour said. “He looked pretty rough in there.”

 

OFFICIAL OUT

 

The game was delayed for about seven minutes when a section of the glass fell on NHL off-ice official Joe Foley while he was working in the Bruins penalty box.

 

Play was whistled dead with 5:07 left in the second period and medical staff ran across the ice to tend to the official. He was taken off on a stretcher and given a cheer by the Boston fans.

 

The glass separated the Boston penalty box from the stands. Play resumed with a police officer in the stands to maintain a barrier.

 

NHL spokesman John Dellapina said Foley, the commercial coordinator, was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for observation.

 

“We heard he’s doing all right and he’s going to be fine,” Pastrnak said.

[Brewin Flames 747]

Got a series now...woo !

[TropicalFruitGirl26 5,420]

Home cookin seems to have helped the Bruins a bit, but I think, more importantly for the fans and themselves, they were basically ignoring the 0-2 hole they found themselves in and just worried about the game in front of them.

That now has them a win away from a brand new series.

Swayman to stay in net?
I don't see why not....

[CorkyM 30]

Still hope 

[3 Palmateers 57]

Not sure if anyone else is watching the Canes/Bruins matinee, but, man, what a brutal emotional decision by Canes coach, Hot Rod. 

 

I get that you're upset that you just gave up the game-tying goal, late, but to compound it with a BRUTAL challenge which then leads to Bergeron getting sticked in the face drawing blood and a 4-minute double minor? 

 

Bruins start the 3rd with a 5-on-3, all compliments of Hot Rod Brind'Amour and an Aho stick to the face trying to kill the ensuing penalty. 

 

Does this look like goaltender interference to you?

 

 

Edited May 8 by 3 Palmateers

[Brewin Flames 747]

Nope, because it wasn't...Marchand ends with a 5 point game, and now we are tied at 2, which is nice.

[Brewin Flames 747]

Marchand scores twice, Bruins beat Canes to tie series at 2

•  

By JIMMY GOLEN

AP Sports Writer

 

BOSTON (AP) Brad Marchand had two goals and three assists, including the tiebreaker early in the third period, and the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Sunday to even their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.

Boston was playing without its top two defenseman after Charlie McAvoy was a last-minute scratch and joined Hampus Lindholm on the sideline, but the Bruins twice rallied for their second straight playoff win.

Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists, and David Pastrnak had one of each for the Bruins. Rookie Jeremy Swayman made 23 saves.

Brett Pesce and Jordan Staal scored for Carolina, and Antti Raanta returned to stop 23 shots for the Metropolitan Division champions.

Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night in Carolina, and Game 6 will be in Boston on Thursday.

Pesce gave Carolina the lead six minutes into the game, the fourth straight time the Hurricanes have scored first - seventh, if you count their three regular-season wins over Boston. But Bergeron tied it with four minutes to play in the first period when he slid a loose puck through Raanta's legs.

Just 33 seconds into the second period, Nino Niederreiter backhanded it out to Staal for the one-timer that gave Carolina a 2-1 lead.

In the last 90 seconds of the second period, with Boston on a power play, Marchand backhanded the puck into Raanta and it wound up in the crease just sitting there for Jake DeBrusk to clean up.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour challenged for goalie interference, but the call stood. That gave Boston another power play, and it became a 5-on-3 when Sebastian Aho was given a double-minor for high-sticking Bergeron in the slot.

Boston still had 44 seconds on the 5-on-3 and 2:58 after that on the double-minor when the third period started. With one second left in the two-man advantage, Marchand wristed one into the net to give Boston its first lead of the day.

Pastrnak added an insurance goal five minutes later, and Marchand put in an empty-netter.

RAANTA RETURNS

Raanta left in the first period of the second game after a collision with Pastrnak. Pyotr Kochetkov relieved him and picked up the win in Game 2 as the Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead in the series.

But the Bruins beat Kochetkov 4-2 on Friday night, and Raanta was back for Game 4.

CLOCK WATCHING

Marchand's first goal was so close to the end of the 5-on-3 that the officials had to check whether the first penalty had expired. At issue was whether the Bruins would get the full advantage of the double-minor to Aho (if the goal came at 43 seconds), or if it would be chopped down to the last 2 minutes (if the goal came at 44 seconds).

After a review, it was determined to come at the 43-second mark of the period, meaning Boston still had 2:53 of a power play. That was erased by a high-sticking call on Matt Grzelcyk about two minutes later.

SCRATCHED

McAvoy was scratched less than an hour before the opening faceoff and placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol. Josh Brown, who appeared in six games for the Bruins after joining them from Ottawa at the trade deadline, was active instead.

A 24-year-old Boston University product who was taken in the first round of the 2016 draft, McAvoy had career-highs of 10 goals and 46 assists, leading all Bruins defensemen in scoring and with an average of 24 minutes, 39 seconds on the ice per game.

Lindholm, the team's top trade deadline acquisition, left Game 2 showing signs of a concussion and has not returned.

[CorkyM 30]

Bad cut so I see, and watched the replay, I just got home from baseball practice with the grandson. Glad they tied the series and I hope they can win two more. I was never a fan of Rod. 

[Brewin Flames 747]

Jarvis, Raanta help Carolina top Bruins for 3-2 series lead

 

 

---

ByAP

Updated: 6 hours ago

 

RALEIGH, N.C. -- — The Carolina Hurricanes swore they’d be fine after losing a two-game lead and momentum in their first-round playoff series. It was just a matter of cutting down on mistakes and staying out of the penalty box.

 

The Hurricanes did exactly that Tuesday night, and it has them within a win of advancing to the next round.

 

Rookie Seth Jarvis scored twice and Antti Raanta finished with 34 saves to help the Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 on Tuesday night for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

 

With the Game 5 win, the Hurricanes have two chances to close out the Bruins. Game 6 is Thursday in Boston, and Game 7, if needed, on home ice Saturday.

The series has yet to see a team secure a road win. It wasn't close to happening in this one, either. Carolina shook off mistake-filled showings in Boston that sent a parade of Hurricanes to the penalty box and carried the action in a cleaner performance.

 

“We know how we've got to play,” said defenseman Tony DeAngelo, who had a first-period goal.

 

“Penalties got us out of our game last game. ... When we're on our game 5 on 5, we're very confident that we're going to come out on top.”

 

To DeAngelo's point, the Hurricanes have outscored the Bruins 12-6 during 5-on-5 play through five games. This time, they committed just three penalties on a night with far fewer scuffles and post-whistle antics by both teams.

 

Defensemen Jaccob Slavin added a first period goal for Carolina, while Vincent Trocheck added an empty-netter. When it was over, Carolina had five goals for the third time in as many series games in front of their loud, rowdy crowd.

 

Raanta was sharp all night, highlighted by stopping a left-alone Brad Marchand at the top of the crease by getting his left wrist on the puck in the first period. He carried a shutout until midway through the third.

 

“It's all about just going out there and battling,” Raanta said, adding: “The whole team played great in front of me. They made my job a lot easier.”

 

Boston's Connor Clifton scored on a rush to make it 4-1, while Jeremy Swayman finished with 33 saves. But after scoring twice on the power play in each of the past two games, Boston came up empty on its only three chances — and twice committed penalties to negate its man advantage.

 

Boston knocked Carolina out of the playoffs twice in the past three postseasons, first with a four-game sweep in the 2019 Eastern Conference finals and then a five-game, first-round series in the Toronto bubble a year later. Now, it's the Bruins who are facing elimination.

 

“Obviously it's a do-or-die situation,” Marchand said. "It's not the one we want to be in. But all that matters is that we regroup and get prepared for the next one.

 

“We know they're going to push. They're a good team. You can see they're very hungry right now.”

 

BANGED-UP JARVIS

 

Jarvis had a tough Game 4 when he took a puck to the groin on a slap shot by teammate Brendan Smith. He laughed it off earlier Tuesday, even while saying he was still in pain from it.

 

No matter, Jarvis was willing to tussle at the crease on both of his goals.

 

The first came when he was knocked to the ice on the left side by Brandon Carlo, but whipped his stick around to hit the puck — which bounced off the right skate of Boston’s Jake DeBrusk and fluttered over Swayman for a 3-0 lead at 15:52 of the second.

 

He came through with another early in the third, reaching around Swayman to corral a puck that had slipped underneath the netminder and tapping it in at 3:31 of the third.

 

Any worries about getting hit again?

 

“I don't care, if I get hit again, I get hit again,” Jarvis said, added: “I say that now, but if I get hit again, I might be down even longer.”

 

MCAVOY IN

 

Boston had a surprise addition with defenseman Charlie McAvoy.

 

McAvoy was a late scratch for Sunday’s Game 4 due to COVID-19 protocols and coach Bruce Cassidy said earlier Tuesday he'd miss Game 5 as well. But McAvoy traveled from Boston in the afternoon and was spotted entering PNC Arena, then joined his team for warmups as the Bruins tweeted McAvoy had cleared the protocol.

 

McAvoy saw more than 25 minutes of ice time.

 

LINDHOLM OUT

 

Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm missed his third straight game. He hasn't played since being leveled on a jarring shoulder-to-chest hit from Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov in the Game 2 loss. Cassidy said Lindholm didn’t travel to North Carolina for Game 5.

 

THREE-POINT NIGHTS

 

DeAngelo, who had three assists in Game 2, had another three-point game with two assists. Trocheck also had two assists, while Teuvo Teravainen had three assists.

[Brewin Flames 747]

Uuuuuuugh.....Canes are taking them to the woodshed.

[CorkyM 30]

Got to have this one…………….hopefully.

[OccamsRazor 13,192]

On 5/11/2022 at 5:40 AM, Brewin Flames said:

Uuuuuuugh.....Canes are taking them to the woodshed.

 

This Canes team knows how to grind just like their head coach...

[Brewin Flames 747]

Always Loved Rod as a player, love him as a coach, just wish the bruins were better.

[CorkyM 30]

So, we have a game seven. How about that. 

[Brewin Flames 747]

Bruins back home, beat Hurricanes 5-2 to force 7th game

 

 

0:48

 

Andrei Svechnikov notches his 2nd score for Canes

Andrei Svechnikov notches his second goal of the game as the Canes trail the Bruins 5-2.

---

ByAP

Updated: 8 hours ago

 

BOSTON -- — The Boston Bruins earned themselves a seventh game with another dominating performance at home.

The problem: The clincher will be at Carolina, where the Hurricanes have been just as unbeatable.

 

“Everybody loves a Game 7,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said after the Bruins won 5-2 on Thursday night to even their first-round playoff series against Carolina at three games apiece. “We’d rather be at home, I’m not going to lie to you.

 

"But we’d play them on Mars if we had to.”

 

Jeremy Swayman stopped 23 shots, and Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist for Boston in the sixth straight blowout for the home team. 

 

Charlie Coyle also had a goal and an assist for Boston, and Erik Haula and Derek Forbort added third-period goals before Curtis Lazar backhanded the puck into the empty net with 4:17 to play to make it 5-1.

 

“We’ve got to win, now, one road game. That’s in front of us,” Cassidy said. “We knew that when we started, we’d have to win at least one to advance. So here it is.”

 

The Hurricanes will host Game 7 on Saturday in Raleigh, where they have gone 3-0 by a combined score of 15-4. The winner will play either the Penguins or Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals; Pittsburgh leads that series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Friday night.

 

“The good news is we have another game to play,” Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “Right now, it’s tough. You should feel brutal, to be honest with you. And then you wake up, and you feel excited that you have an opportunity.”

 

Two days after losing 5-1 at Carolina, the Bruins returned home and put up an equally one-sided performance.

 

Andrei Svechnikov scored twice and Antti Raanta made 29 saves for the Hurricanes. Neither Swayman, a rookie, nor Raanta has ever appeared in a seventh game.

 

“I can’t wait,” said Swayman, who took over as starter after Linus Ullmark lost the first two games in Carolina. “It’s Game 7. We’re extremely excited. ... It’s a fun atmosphere to be a part of. Couldn’t ask for much more.”

 

Marchand broke a scoreless tie 46 seconds into the second period, taking a long cross-ice pass from Connor Clifton and skating to the right circle before wristing it over Raanta’s glove.

 

Coyle gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead in the last two minutes of the period, poking in the trickling rebound of David Pastrnak’s one-timer. Svechnikov made it a one-goal game early in the third before Haula and Forbort gave Boston back its cushion.

 

Svechnikov’s second goal came with 2:30 left during a power play for a double minor to Marchand for spearing.

 

BYE BYE BERGY

 

The game could be the last at the TD Garden for future Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins captain is unsigned for next year and has declined to talk about his future during the season.

 

In an 18-year career, all of it with Boston, Bergeron has scored 400 goals with 582 assists and won the Selke Award as the best two-way forward four times. He won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and went to the Final two other times.

 

COMEBACKS

 

After top defenseman Charlie McAvoy returned for Game 5 after he missed just one game in the COVID-19 protocol, No. 2 blue liner Hampus Lindholm returned for Game 6. He hadn’t played since showing signs of a concussion in Game 2.

 

Lindholm led all players in ice time with 24 minutes, 48 seconds.

 

“Watching hockey is not something I’ve ever been good at,” he said. “Super happy to be out there.”

 

Game notes

Tomas Nosek had two assists for Boston. ... Carolina scored once on six power-play opportunities, with Boston killing a 5-on-3 advantage in the second period. The Bruins were 1 for 3.

[TropicalFruitGirl26 5,420]

Truth or Consequences, North Carolina.

Yep, that's the town both the B's and Canes find themselves in.
Time for talk is over, time for speculation is over, time for one of these teams to put up....or shut the hell up!

Game 7 is on!

[TropicalFruitGirl26 5,420]

Never realized up until earlier this season what a real pest Charlie McAvoy can be!

I mean, I do like his game....has a nice offensive skillset, hits hard, seems to be very aware of his positioning on the ice, and has a bit of a swagger and attitude about him.
But his 'agitation game', or dare I say, 'rat play' is very much a part of his repertoire as well.

Can often be found giving an extra bump or skating uncomfortably close to, say, the opposing goalie even just after whistles (he did it once already in this game!), and firing off some quip here and there for no other reason probably, then to piss someone off.

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking the guy for that...in fact, makes me think he really IS a complete defenseman and should anchor this Boston defense for years to come.
I just never really equated agitation and pesky play with McAvoy before this season.

[TropicalFruitGirl26 5,420]

Teuvo Teravainen deflects a puck past Jeremy Swayman and the Carolina Hurricanes are off n running with the 1-0 lead.
In fact, the crowd erupted, and were so happy they are waving around hankerchiefs and couples started making out in the stands too!
Talk about a goal as an aphrodisiac! 

And now, if that wasn't enough, Boston commits a 4 minute high sticking infraction, putting the already fired up Canes on the PP.

[Toronto Jules 65]

The Teuvo Teravainen goal the Bruins defense seemed a bit mixed up. 

 

You are correct that the Bruins are committing way too many penalties. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26 5,420]

Bruins and "Jerks" out on the ice for the 2nd period...and it sees Carolina still with plenty of PP time, about 3 minutes worth, left over from the double minor against Boston's Taylor Hall.

And as I finish this, Vinnie Trochek just clanked the puck off the post....Swayman must have been praying to the Hockey Net gods in between periods.