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Perhaps the Bruins were due for a stinker in this tough stretch of their schedule. And the Carolina Hurricanes were only too happy to deliver it to them.
After the B’s beat the Canes in Carolina last week, the B’s showed they could be hospitable hosts as well, dropping a x-x decision at the Garden as the Hurricanes rode a dominant second period to the victory.
The Canes took a 201 lead into the third period and extended it with a couple more goals, including a nail-in-the-coffin shorthanded tally, to take the win.
It was a hard-hitting but scoreless first period — but the B’s were fortunate on the latter counter.
At 1:59 into the game,, Martin Necas looked like he had caught Jeremy Swayman napping when he fired a puck from the along the goal line and appeared to have banked it in. It was called a goal on the ice but it was reviewed – extensively – and it was ruled that the puck had not crossed the line. It was extremely close. Brandon Carlo had made an attempt to keep it out and, though he couldn’t control the puck, he did appear to at least slow its momentum which must have helped a sliver of the puck stay on the line.
There were not a ton of great scoring chances for either team in the first, with shots at a measly, 4-4. It did appear as though the B’s were looking to make a point with their physicality. They landed 18 hits in the period, several of them heavy ones, to the Hurricanes’ 14.
The aggression nearly cost them in the early going of the second period. With Morgan Geekie already in the box for tripping. Brad Marchand was called for kneeing Stefan Noesen with 14 seconds left on the first power play. But then Charlie Coyle won two faceoffs to kill off the short 5-on-3 and, thanks to a couple of good Swayman saves, the B’s killed the second PP as well.
Later in the period, a neutral zone turnover gave Seth Jarvis a clean breakaway but Swayman made a terrific pad save.
But disaster was lurking.
On a later shift, the B’s got themselves in hot water when first Parker Wotherspoon and then Andrew Peeke missed chances to clear the puck. Swayman again made several good stops and it was beginning to look like it would take a great play to beat him.
The Hurricanes, who held a 15-6 shot advantage in the second, got one.
With Carolina storming the Boston zone, Andrei Svechnikov scooped up the puck behind the net and, lacrosse-style, ripped it off the back crossbar. It bounced out so fast that it was initially washed out by the refs but the horn soon sounded and it was eventually scored a goal at 10:55.
Not much was going on offensively for the B’s – they had just one shot on net through the first 15:48 – so coach Jim Montgomery loaded up Marchand with David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha with Charlie McAvooy and Hampus Lindholm. Instead of jump-starting the offense, the B’s were looking at a 2-0 deficit when Teuvo Teravainen got position on Lindholm to tap in a Svechnikov pass for a 2-0 Carolina lead at 13:05, the puck just eluding Swayman’s pad.
The B’s finally pushed back late in the second.
They did little with their first power play but they managed to get on the board at 16:56 on a helter-skelter sequence initiated and finished off by McAvoy. First the defenseman was forced behind the Carolina net and he tried to feed the puck to Trent Frederic out front. It didn’t connect but went to Jesper Boqvist out high and Boqvist fed Jakub Lauko in the slot. Lauko’s shot was partially blocked, but it went right to McAvoy in the left circle and he banked it off goalie Pyotr Kochetkov and in.
That pulled the B’s within striking distance heading into the third. And they did start to get some shots on Kotchetkov. But Carolina regained their two-goal lead at 10:14. Jake Guentzel followed a rebound of a Dmitry Orlov shot and Swayman got a piece of it. As it sat behind the netminder in the crease, Zacha swooped in to save the day but was a little too strong. Instead of shoveling the puck back underneath Swayman, he banked in off the netminder to make it 3-1.
The B’s had one last chance to get back in when they got another power play, but they gave up a bad shorthanded goal to Jarvis to all but end it. Right off the bat, Jarvis created a partial break for himsellf and Swayman made the initial save. But Jarvis was allowed to get his own rebound behind the net and score on the wraparound.
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