"y-": 2025-26 Regular Season, Game 78: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Boston Bruins

We could be looking at a first-round matchup preview tonight between the Hurricanes and the Bruins at the Lenovo Center. The Canes need just one point to clinch the division, while the Bruins appear anchored in the top Wild Card spot with just four games to go. There is no shortage of history between these two in the postseason, meeting three times in the last seven years under Rod Brind'Amour. The times have changed quite a bit with each passing matchup. Tonight's home finale serves as the rubber match in the season series, with the teams splitting games in Boston in November. The Canes have the ball in their court, so it's up to them to get this one over the finish line and leave no doubt as to who the best team in the Metropolitan Division is.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

BOS (4:40)- Hampus Lindholm (5) (Pavel Zacha (34) & Viktor Arvidsson (28))

CAR (10:04)- Andrei Svechnikov (30) (Alexander Nikishin (20) & Sean Walker (20))

CAR (11:38)- K'Andre Miller (7) (Jordan Staal (15))

BOS (13:36)- Morgan Geekie (35) (David Pastrnak (69) & Elias Lindholm (31))

BOS (17:25)- Morgan Geekie (36) (David Pastrnak (70) & Nikita Zadorov (19))

2nd Period

CAR (5:17-PP)- Logan Stankoven (19) (Taylor Hall (29) & Jackson Blake (28))

CAR (7:20)- William Carrier (7) (Jordan Martinook (15))

CAR (8:33)- Taylor Hall (17) (Jackson Blake (29) & Sean Walker (21))

BOS (18:50)- Morgan Geekie (37) (Nikita Zadorov (20) & Charlie McAvoy (48))

3rd Period

BOS (12:35)- Pavel Zacha (30) (Charlie McAvoy (49) & Viktor Arvidsson (29))

Overtime

CAR (1:13)- Jaccob Slavin (1) (Sebastian Aho (53) & Andrei Svechnikov (39))

My Thoughts

The Carolina Hurricanes are Metropolitan Division champions once more, and I don't care that they needed overtime to get the job done. It was a very ugly game for all parties involved, but none of that matters when you get two points and win the division. The first period felt incredibly disjointed. I liked the Canes' response to Boston's opening goal until they fell apart at the end of the period. We'll talk a little more about the second period in a second, which was easily their best of the night. They held a definite territorial edge in the third, but they couldn't make good on any of their chances before the Bruins tied it. Overtime was all Carolina for the 73 seconds that played out, and that proved to be the difference tonight. It took the entire offense to get the division locked up, which is what you expected against this hungry Boston team.

The second period was the turning point of the game on two fronts. First, the Canes scored three goals in just over three minutes to take a two-goal lead. The power play led the charge on Logan Stankoven's 19th goal of the season, and it spiraled into something even better when William Carrier and Taylor Hall added to it. This flurry of goals, a few of which were very stoppable, led to Jeremy Swayman's early exit from the game and brought Joonas Korpisalo into the fight. Korpisalo was the only reason that this game made it to overtime. He turned it back into Boston's favor with a few remarkable stops, his best of which came on Sebastian Aho after the Bruins tied the game. Korpisalo wasn't going to allow anything soft, which is why the winning goal had to be pinpoint accurate, with Aho finding Jaccob Slavin on the backdoor.

I was woefully unaware that David Pastrnak hadn't recorded a point against the Canes this season. I guess it didn't really matter because he had two before the end of the first period. Morgan Geekie benefited from it, scoring both goals. Geekie completed the hat trick in the second with a beautiful redirection, haunting his old team. The other two Boston goals came from their second line. The hard work of the Zacha line netted them the goal on each side of Geekie's trifecta. Otherwise, it was a quiet night from the Bruins' other two lines. Even with all of the firepower that Boston possesses, Brandon Bussi didn't inspire much confidence with his work tonight. A few of the goals would've taken outstanding stops to prevent, but a few others were very soft, including Pavel Zacha's tying goal. Still, he found a way to win his fifth game in a row and 30th of the season, so I'll settle for the end result being greater than the path to get there.

With as many goals as were scored by the Canes tonight, it meant a lot of big moments and scoring plateaus. Andrei Svechnikov opened the scoring for the Canes to record his second 30-goal season, tying his career high. He recorded his 69th point of the season with the secondary helper on the game winner, tying his best there as well. Sean Walker added a pair of secondary assists in the game, pushing him past his previous best in assists as he continues to improve on his best offensive season. Jackson Blake also had two assists, giving him his first 50-point campaign. Logan Stankoven's goal creates a new career-high in points (39), putting him one away from 40 points. Jordan Staal's face-off win led to K'Andre Miller's goal, giving him 300 assists with the Canes. Alexander Nikishin picked up another assist, his 20th of the season, putting him alone in first place for the most points by a rookie defenseman in Canes history. I'm sure I'm missing something else, but that should be more than enough to celebrate.

First Star of the Game: Andrei Svechnikov

In picking a top player for the Canes tonight, I have to acknowledge that no one had a truly outstanding game. However, when it comes to noticeability, Andrei Svechnikov is right at the top of the list. His goal to tie the game in the first required a little help, but he more than earned his bounce to return to the 30-goal club. He added the secondary helper on the overtime winner, becoming one of four Hurricanes with multiple points tonight. Svechnikov tied for the team lead with five shots and led the way with six hits.

Around the League

Pittsburgh: With the Canes' win tonight, the Penguins are more than likely locked into the #2 spot in the division, giving Sidney Crosby and co. a chance to play Game 1 at home.

Philadelphia: The Flyers get the good times rolling, maintaining their hold on the #3 spot in the Metro with a one-sided 5-1 victory in New Jersey.

New York: Returning to action on Thursday night against the Maple Leafs, the Islanders watched their playoff hopes take a serious hit with Philly and Columbus winning tonight. 

Columbus: It took an Adam Fantilli goal in the final seconds to get the game to overtime, but the Blue Jackets won a big game in Detroit to keep them right in the hunt for the second Wild Card.

Washington: The Capitals' hopes also took a major hit on Tuesday, putting them five points back of Ottawa at the cut-off line.

Current Standings

Carolina: 106 Points (4 GR)

Pittsburgh: 96 Points (4 GR)

Philadelphia: 92 Points (4 GR)

Columbus: 90 Points (4 GR)

New York: 89 Points (4 GR)

Washington: 87 Points (4 GR)

Next Up: One last road trip brings about the end of the regular season. The trip begins on Thursday night in Chicago against Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks. They'll head further west to play the Utah Mammoth in Salt Lake City on Saturday before a divisional back-to-back against the Flyers and the Islanders brings the 82-game march to the postseason to an end.