The Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 and win the series 3-1, moving onto the second round. Last playoffs, the Bruins swept the Hurricanes to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals (where the Bruins lost in seven games to the St. Louis Blues, but yea let’s not talk about that). Let’s take a closer look at the series between the Canes and Bruins.

Game one started on August 12th at 11 a.m due to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets game going into FIVE overtime periods. Despite the setback and early start time, the Bruins won this game in double over time with a score of 4-3. Joakim Nordstrom was outstanding in this game, blocking shots and the fourth line started each period while getting the puck down in the Canes zone. David Pastrnak seemed to injure himself in the overtime celebration, which led to Anders Bjork sliding into his spot for the next couple of games. 

Game two was a close one, but ultimately the Carolina Hurricanes tied up the series with a win of 3-2. The Bruins seemed to play a more physical game, not being afraid to throw around their weight. Each team scored a power play goal in this game. 

Game three had the Bruins playing Jaro Halak, as Tuukka Rask left the bubble and opted out of the playoffs due to a family emergency. Halak and the Bruins cruised to a 3-1 win, taking a 2-1 series lead. Unfortunately the Hurricanes had to lose Andrei Svechnikov late in the third to an accidental tangle up with Zdeno Chara.

Game four had the Bruins winning 4-3, taking a 3-1 series lead and on the verge of eliminating the Hurricanes. The Bruins were still without David Pastrnak, and debuted some new lines at the start of the second period. 

New Lines

Marchand-Bergeron-Coyle

DeBrusk-Krejci-Kase

Bjork-Kuraly-Studnicka

Nordstrom-Lindholm-Wagner

All the defense pairings were still the same, with Cassidy wanting to try out some new lines to get some goals. The Bruins had an explosive third period comeback (stop me if you’ve heard that before) with four straight goals. Charlie McAvoy had an enormous hit on the Canes captain Jordan Staal, which sent Staal down the tunnel for the rest of the game. 

Game five was the clincher game for the Bruins as they won 2-1 and won the series 4-1. David Pastrnak came back into the lineup and had assists for both Bruin goals. The Boston Bruins move onto the second round of the 2020 NHL Playoffs and await to see who they play. 

Until Next Time

∼RJ

Well, the Boston Bruins went 0-3-0 in the round robin and dropped from the 1 seed to the 4th seed and will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the official first round of the 2020 NHL Playoffs. Let’s look back at the three round robin games and break them down.

Game One: Lost to Flyers 4-1 

Bruin’s were off to a slow start, with choppy passes which didn’t connect. This was after an exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets (4-1). The Flyers won their exhibition game (4-0) over the St Louis Blues. Halak was in net and let in four goals on 29 shots, as Rask was not feeling well. This was also the only game in which Jack Studnicka played on Krejci’s LW, he was scratched in the two games after. While both teams had an equal amount of PIM, both teams killed penalties well. The Bruins had more giveaways, and less take aways. The Bruins only goal came from Chris Wagner in the second period, assisted by Nordstrom and McAvoy. The Bruins went from the number one seed to the fourth seed in their division, while the Flyers took the number one seed, winning all of their RR games. 

Lineup:

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak 

Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Jack Studnicka 

Anders Bjork – Charlie Coyle – Karson Kuhlman

Joakim Nordstrom – Sean Kuraly – Chris Wagner

Zdeno Chara- Charlie McAvoy 

Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo 

Matt Grzelcyk – Jeremy Lauzon 

Jaroslav Halak 

Dan Vladar

Tuukka Rask (not feeling well) 

Game Two: Lost to the Lightning 3-1 

The Bruin’s played slightly better, but still lost to a Lighting team with out Steven Stamkos. The Bruins really came alive in the second period, even though Jake DeBrusk was playing on his off wing and not with Krejci but on Coyle’s line. The Lighting scored two goals in the first, with one coming on a PP for them. Krug got into a fight after a hit on Carlo by Blake Coleman. This game was filled with a lot of urgency and hard hits, as spilling over from the regular season. In the second, McAvoy scores, with assists from Krug and Bergeron. Nick Ritchie drew into the lineup for a more physical presence but still needs to work on adding scoring depth to the team. Tampa is reseeded to the number two seed, while Boston drops to number four seed. Rask let in three goals on 35 shots. 

Lineup:

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak 

Nick Ritchie – David Krejci – Karson Kuhlman 

Anders Bjork – Charlie Coyle – Jake DeBrusk (on his off wing) (doesn’t look as good)

Joakim Nordstrom – Sean Kuraly – Chris Wagner

Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy 

Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo 

Matt Grzelcyk – Jeremy Lauzon

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

(Rask, Richie back, DeBrusk moved down)

 

Game Three: Lost to the Caps 2-1 

Finally, the Bruins were decent against the Capitals. The team needs more production from its top line, as Jake DeBrusk scored in the third period, with assists from Krejci and Kase. Kase makes his first appearance since mid March, on the second line with Krejci and DeBrusk. Both teams took 10 PIM and were 0/2 on the powerplay. The Bruins had more take aways, with 11 versus 7. Clifton subbed in for Grzelcyk, Kase for Kuhlman and Jake DeBrusk played on his correct LW. Rask let in two goals on 25 shots, although the first goal (scored by T.J. Oshie went off of Chara’s stick to Oshie). The Capitals take the number three seed, while Boston drops to the fourth seed.

Lineup:

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Ondrej Kase

Nick Ritchie – Charlie Coyle – Anders Bjork 

Joakim Nordstrom – Sean Kuraly – Chris Wagner 

Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy 

Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo 

Connor Clifton – Jeremy Lauzon 

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak 

(Clifton subs in for Grzelcyk, Kase for Kuhlman, JD on his CORRECT wing)

Looking ahead, the Bruins take on the Carolina Hurricanes, starting August 11th at 8pm. Let’s go Bruins.

Until Next Time

∼RJ