First Round, Game 2: Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins (Carolina leads 1-0)

The message for both teams ahead of Game 2 is quite simple. For the Hurricanes, it's about finding a way to replicate their performance from Game 1. The first period and a half on Monday night was a scoreless affair with both Antti Raanta and Linus Ullmark doing everything in their power to keep the other team out of the net. The game broke open shortly before the second intermission with goals from Seth Jarvis and Nino Niederreiter to give the Canes a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes left. Despite an early third period goal from Taylor Hall, the Canes would score three unanswered in the third period to pick up a 5-1 victory to open the series. Raanta was phenomenal in his first postseason start, but it takes four to win a series, so the Canes are going to need that same effort tonight as they look to assert their dominance before heading to Boston this weekend. For the Bruins, they shouldn't be discouraged by their effort in the first game. The scoreboard isn't reflective of how close it was for most of the game. Each period, the Bruins came out the better team, they just weren't rewarded with pucks in the back of the net. They always seemed to lose steam midway through the period and the Canes would take over from there. They're committing to Ullmark between the pipes for Game 2. He played well despite the four goals allowed. Outside of the Trocheck goal to make it 4-1, there wasn't much he could do on the first three goals, with the Canes taking away his vision for the first two and then scoring the third on a 2-on-1. He's going to need more help from his team if the Bruins are going to get back into this one. The Canes will likely be going with the same lineup from Game 1 as they try to put some early doubt in Boston by going up by two games.

1st Period

Scoring

(CAR) 13:03- Jesper Fast (1) (assisted by Jordan Staal (1) & Jaccob Slavin (2))

(CAR) 15:30- Sebastian Aho (1) (assisted by Tony DeAngelo (2) & Jaccob Slavin (3))

Thoughts

Things got heated at the end of the period, which is exactly what you'd expect from a playoff series between two teams that don't like each other much. Things started off bad with Antti Raanta only making it 7:47 into the game before a collision with David Pastrnak as he was trying to clear a puck. Everyone will have opinions on this and it's likely going to be skewed depending on which side of the series you're on. I think the contact was unnecessary and it was contact with the head of a player. I think it's worth five minutes, but I'm not an official so I don't know. This meant Raanta was off and Pyotr Kochetkov would make his first postseason appearance. Raanta looked good to start the game and the defense made sure Kochetkov wasn't challenged much. As for the offense, the Canes decided to start a lot earlier tonight. The Canes kept a puck in the zone, Staal fed Fast on a beautiful cross-seam pass, and Fast buried the one-timer with under seven minutes left. Just about three minutes later, Tony DeAngelo put a shot on from the point that was deflected by Sebastian Aho with four black jerseys in front of Ullmark to make it 2-0. It was an excellent response to the early moments of the game. They'll now have two periods to defend a multi-goal lead with a rookie between the pipes. The defense is going to have their work cut out for them tonight. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 1:10- Sebastian Aho (2) PP (assisted by Tony DeAngelo (3) & Teuvo Teravainen (1))

(BOS) 14:57- Patrice Bergeron (1) PP (assisted by Brad Marchand (1))

(CAR) 18:52- Nino Niederreiter (2) PP (assisted by Vincent Trocheck (2) & Tony DeAngelo (4))

Thoughts

Not many periods come to mind for being as chaotic as that one. There were eight minor penalties called and that meant a lot of power play time. The Canes entered the period on a 5-on-3 after the skirmish at the end of the first period and while they didn't get anything with two men off, Sebastian Aho labeled a puck home on the power play to push the lead to 3-0. The Bruins then found the scoreboard late in the period with a power play goal from Patrice Bergeron as he was the only person that knew where the puck was. Things got messy from there. It really started with a massive hit from Andrei Svechnikov on Hampus Lindholm that was as clean as could be. It resulted in a meeting of the minds, matching roughing penalties, and a Canes' power play. Pyotr Kochetkov then got into it with Brad Marchand, with the two slashing each other and receiving penalties of their own. Aho drew a holding call on a breakaway to make it a 5-on-3 again. They would score on the 5-on-3 this time with Nino Niederreiter getting one to trickle over the goal line to restore the three-goal lead. It's close enough for this to sound stupid, but can we start a running clock? With the number of penalties right now, it might be worth it so that neither team kills the other and something bad doesn't happen. Lindholm is likely out for the rest of this one and I shudder to think about the Canes losing another player tonight. Just get this one to the house and survive to see Boston on Friday night. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(BOS) 12:21- Patrice Bergeron (2) (assisted by Charlie McAvoy (2))

(CAR) 19:19- Nino Niederreiter (3) EN (assisted Andrei Svechnikov (1))

Thoughts

The Canes had a chance to really put this game away with an extended 5-on-3 and a double-minor, but they couldn't get anything going. This allowed Boston to hang around in this game despite the number of penalties that made it feel like it should've been over before the period began. Patrice Bergeron helped add some doubt with his second of the night that went in off his skate. They then took a late penalty that allowed Boston to pull their goalie and have a 6-on-4 advantage for two minutes. The Canes would not be deterred as they killed it off. Add an empty-net goal with less than a minute to go from Nino Niederreiter for his second of the night and it put little doubt in who is in control of this series. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Andrei Svechnikov (Assist, 9 Hits)

I'm not giving Svechnikov the third star solely for his hit on Lindholm in the second period. It may have been one of the cleanest hits I've ever seen, but that's not the only reason. He finished tonight with nine hits, the most of anyone on the ice tonight, and won a huge battle along the boards to set up the empty-net goal to finish this one. I've loved this side of his game in the first two games and hope we see more of it while he remains disciplined. 

Second Star- Tony DeAngelo (3 Assists)

This is the reason why DeAngelo was brought into Carolina. He's the gritty guy that isn't afraid to get into it with anyone while also putting up big numbers. He now leads the team in points through two games with his four assists and was great on the power play tonight. Tonight was one of those games where he needed to make an impact with all the chances and he did exactly that. 

First Star- Sebastian Aho (2 Goals)

I said it a dozen times in the regular season that your stars have to step up in big situations and it was usually directed at Aho after a good game. He scored the second goal late in the first period and then added the power play goal early in the second period to deflate the tires of the Bruins with a lot of game left. He'll need to continue this in Boston to a stranglehold on this series. 

Final Thoughts

Game 2 took a page out of Hollywood's book and decided it need to go bigger and better than Game 1. The hits were louder. The saves were more important. The crowd was more energetic and opinionated. I love physical games, but this one bordered on overkill. It felt like every whistle drew a crowd and it became exhausting. I'm not complaining at all, but maybe I am a little. I didn't include them in the three stars portion, but Nino Niederreiter deserves some major props for netting two more goals tonight. Pyotr Kochetkov also needs some praise because he came in and had to play almost the entire game in his first postseason appearance. When the Bruins made a push in the third period, he didn't bat an eye and stood tall to bring home the win. Not to mention he almost got into it with Brad Marchand and took a penalty. He's going to be fun to watch in the coming years. More important than everything is that the Canes will now go to Boston for two games with a 2-0 series lead. There are three distinct outcomes that could happen in the next two games, two of which involve the series coming back to Raleigh for Game 5. It would be great to finish the series in Boston on Sunday, but coming back for a game next Tuesday with a 3-1 lead would also be acceptable. They need to avoid doing what they did last year against Nashville and lose both on the road. The crowd in Boston is going to be a major factor, much like the crowd in Raleigh was for these two. Going on the road doesn't mean you abandon your game and become as undisciplined as the Bruins were tonight. You've played well in Boston twice this season. These next two games should not be any different.