First Round, Game 4: Hurricanes at Boston Bruins (Carolina leads 2-1)

Friday night's loss wasn't great, but it wasn't the end of the world either. Boston found their way back into the series by notching a 4-2 win in which they looked pretty dominant for most of the game and handed Pyotr Kochetkov his first loss in the NHL in his first postseason start. Vincent Trocheck got the Canes on the board early in the period, but four unanswered goals from Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Taylor Hall put the game out of reach. Jaccob Slavin would get a goal to bring the Canes within two and they would push in the final half of the third period, but it wouldn't be enough as Jeremy Swayman earned his first postseason win and the Bruins cut their series deficit in half. The emphasis over the last 36 hours for the Canes has likely been on special teams. Despite being the best penalty kill in the league, the Canes allowed two power play goals on Friday night and coughed up a short-handed goal as well. Antti Raanta will be back in the net for the third time this series. He only played about seven minutes in Game 2, exiting the game after the collision with Pastrnak, after a brilliant performance in Game 1. Jordan Martinook is out of the lineup after leaving Game 3 early with a lower-body injury, allowing Derek Stepan to make his postseason debut with the Canes today. Charlie McAvoy was placed into COVID protocol shortly before puck drop for the Bruins, meaning they'll be without a huge piece of their defensive core. Swayman will get his second straight start in the net. Boston's win in Game 3 ensured the series will be coming back to Raleigh on Tuesday for a fifth game. It now becomes a matter of whether the Canes will be up 3-1 when they return home, or if the series will be tied with a follow-up trip to Boston booked for Game 6. The Canes have proven they can play well in Beantown. It needs to translate over this afternoon to make sure they can finish this off in Raleigh. 

1st Period

Scoring

(CAR) 14:06- Brett Pesce (1) (assisted by Jordan Staal (2) & Max Domi (2))

(BOS) 16:09- Patrice Bergeron (3) (assisted by David Pastrnak (2) & Brad Marchand (4))

Thoughts

This power play needs a serious facelift because they are looking abysmal. They had three chances and though the third was only for 22 seconds, the first two didn't generate much of anything. Once the puck was cleared, they were never able to get back in and set anything up. I thought the first period was otherwise good for the Canes. Brett Pesce opened the scoring late for the Canes with a shot that trickled through Swayman. The Perfection Line answered just over two minutes later with Patrice Bergeron's third of the series and I'm sure Raanta will want that one back. The Canes got the better of the shot count, but Boston had far more high-quality chances. It felt like all of their shots were within five feet of the crease. I'm not sure what the answer is because I'm not an expert, but something about the power play needs to be altered. It's bad when you'd rather the other team didn't take any penalties. There's still a long way to go before this one is decided, so I'm hoping the Canes will find something early on Swayman to play with the lead. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 0:33- Jordan Staal (1) (assisted by Nino Niederreiter (1) & Tony DeAngelo (5))

(BOS) 18:44- Jake DeBrusk (1) PP (assisted by Brad Marchand (5) & Patrice Bergeron (2))

Thoughts

The Canes need to stay out of the box. They took six penalties in the period, killed off 1:23 of a 5-on-3 early in the period, and will have 44 seconds of a 5-on-3 to open the period before finishing off Aho's double minor for high sticking. The period started great for the Canes. The Staal line forechecked like crazy and it resulted in a beautiful pass from behind the net by Nino Niederreiter finding the captain's stick and then the back of the net to get the Canes back ahead just 33 seconds into the period. They'd kill the consecutive penalties and got an excellent shift from the Aho line that kept the Bruins in their zone for a while. Once Teravainen took a hooking penalty and Boston got their fourth period of the afternoon, it felt like the period was all Boston's. While they'd kill the hooking penalty, Niederreiter took a tripping penalty and Boston would score. Jake DeBrusk knocked home a loose puck, but the play was challenged by Rod Brind'Amour. It looked like Raanta's pad was interfered with and upon further inspection, it was Pesce's stick that hit it. The goal stood to keep it tied and the Canes would go on the kill for the fifth time in the period. Aho drew blood from Bergeron on a high stick and got four minutes to give Boston another 5-on-3. They made it out of the period tied, but there is a lot of 5-on-3 time left and even more time before Aho is released. It was just a very undisciplined period from the road team and it makes it very frustrating to watch because they should be dominating the Bruins without McAvoy. They're going to need a special kill to open the period because Boston's power play is humming right now. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(BOS) 0:44- Brad Marchand (2) PP (assisted by Charlie Coyle (2) & Jake DeBrusk (2))

(BOS) 5:41- David Pastrnak (2) (assisted by Brad Marchand (6) & Patrice Bergeron (3))

(BOS) 19:25- Brad Marchand (3) EN (assisted by Charlie Coyle (3) & Brandon Carlo (1))

Thoughts

This loss lies solely in the Canes' inability to stay disciplined. They gave Boston way too many chances to go on the power play and they paid for it dearly. Marchand turned things in the Bruins' favor with an early goal right before the end of the Niederreiter penalty to make it 3-2, assisted on the Pastrnak goal about five minutes later to push the lead to two goals, and iced it with an empty-net goal to complete his five-point afternoon. From there, Boston asserted their dominance and made sure the Canes never got to set anything up again. The Canes went down with a whimper and we'll head back to Raleigh Tuesday night with an even series and a game that now borders on "must-win" territory. It's frustrating for sure, but I'm sure the crowd in Raleigh is going to be nuts. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Brett Pesce (Goal)

I struggled with who to name as the third star, just like I did in Game 3. I've opted for Brett Pesce for a couple reasons. First, he scored a goal today, which is fun. Second, he made a couple good defensive plays, especially on an early Bruins' power play. Lastly, it felt like he'd jumped into the play quite a bit today. 

Second Star- Nino Niederreiter (Assist)

While he did take a costly penalty late in the second period, it came while he was trying to make a huge defensive play. What stood out though was the pass he made from behind the net to set up the Staal goal in the second period was beautiful. The Canes always find a way to make some beautiful passes from behind the net. 

First Star- Jordan Staal (Goal, Assist)

The Canes had their own player factor on all of their goals. The captain made an excellent pass to find Pesce for the first goal of the afternoon for the Canes. He then put the Canes ahead early in the second period with his first goal of the postseason. He was probably the best forward on the ice for the Canes this afternoon and put his team in a good place to try and earn this win. 

Final Thoughts

We're learning very quickly that four or five players really can win a series for a team. The Perfection line plus Coyle and DeBrusk are making life miserable for the Canes. Let's be crystal clear though, the Canes absolutely dug their own grave today. The massive difference in penalties was earned and they couldn't back it up late in this game, allowing two more power play goals. It was a lot of unnecessary and undisciplined penalties that we were seeing from Boston in the first two games. I'd be panicking about all of this if not for the fact that the series is heading back to Raleigh on Tuesday night and should the series need seven games, the final game would also be in Raleigh. The Canes' faithful will be out in full force in PNC Arena. Let's not forget that the Canes did this exact same thing last season in the first round against Nashville before winning Games 5 and 6. We don't need to go crazy just yet, but Tuesday night is going to be huge.