The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Both teams are coming off a double overtime Game 1 which the Bruins won 4-3. Here is the recap from Game 2 between the Hurricanes and Bruins.
Scratches
Bruins: John Moore, David Pastrnak, Urho Vaakanainen, Maxime Lagace, Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, Connor Clifton, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Trent Frederic, Dan Vladar
Hurricanes: Alex Nedeljkovic, Roland McKeown, Joel Edmundson, Steven Lorentz, Jake Gardiner, Clark Bishop, Jake Bean, Nino Niederreiter, Anton Forsberg, Max McCormick
1st Period
It was a back and forth period with the Bruins taking over the last five minutes of the period. Bruins forward David Krecji scored the game’s first goal on the team’s first power play. Despite grabbing the lead at the end of the period, the Hurricanes outshot the Bruins 7-6. Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton had a scoring chance before Krejci’s goal but Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask made the save.
Boston went into the second period with a 1-0 lead.
2nd Period
The Bruins were in control for most of the period but the Hurricanes were able to hang with them defensively. And, all that defense paid off as Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen tied the game 17 seconds into their power play. Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov scored 1:28 to give his team the lead for the first time this game. However, Teravainen got called for an interference penalty with 18:18 left in the period. And, Bruins forward Brad Marchand tied the game with three seconds left in the period.
The game was tied at two heading into the third period.
3rd Period
This time the Hurricanes took charge in the early stages of the period. However, they got a goal waived off after there was goaltender interference that prevented Rask from making a save. The Hurricanes also lost the challenge to waive off the goalie interference call and were assessed a penalty for delay of game. But, they were able to kill off the Bruins’ power play. Carolina used that momentum from the penalty kill to regain the lead. Hamilton scored the game winning goal after having a scoring chance in the first period. The Bruins pushed back and tried to force the game to yet another overtime but they couldn’t convert on the 6-on-5 man advantage.
Carolina won the game 3-2 and tied the series 1-1.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nleq_cIA3d8]
Three Stars of the Game
Third Star: Brad Marchand (1 goal, 1 assist)
Second Star: Dougie Hamilton (1 assist)
First Star: Andrei Svechnikov (1 goal, 1 assist)
Just like Game 1, both teams continue to match up very well against each other. However, the Bruins should take note that the Hurricanes are one of the best power play teams in these playoffs. One reason why the Bruins got to the Stanley Cup Finals last year was their heavy checking game that intimidated opponents. If they can get back to that part of their game, they should have a chance of winning this series.
On the other hand, the Hurricanes continue to show why they are one of the more dangerous offensive teams this postseason. However, they can’t keep getting outshot especially against this Bruins team. Even though Bruins forward David Pastrnak didn’t play this game, they still have players that can score goals. The Hurricanes could always improve defensively to not give up too many scoring chances.
Game 3 of the Hurricanes-Bruins series is on Aug. 15 at 12:00 pm EST.