RALEIGH, North Carolina — The Carolina Hurricanes showed that their dominance against the Boston Bruins in the regular season was no fluke with a 5-1 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at PNC Arena on Monday.
Two goals in just over two minutes late in the second period was just the boost Carolina needed to plant a seed of doubt on the way to its fourth straight victory against Boston this season, outscoring its opponent 21-2 in the process.
The Hurricanes defeated the Bruins 3-0 on October 28, 7-1 on January 18, and 6-0 on February 10.
The Bruins outscored the Hurricanes 36-25 in Game 1 but couldn’t settle antti raanta, who won his first career start in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Bruins goalie Linus Ulmark he made 20 saves in his playoff debut.
“Their goaltender made some really good first stops, but I think playoff hockey is about staying around the net and finding a way to score,” Bruins forward. taylor room saying. “Honestly, as if they scored their first goal with a warning and the second with a lot of traffic. We always seem [to] Outshot teams, but what can get away from us is getting people to the net and really making use of all those shots, creating second chances. That’s going to be a focus for us.”
[RELATED: Complete Hurricanes vs. Bruins series coverage]
rookie forward Seth Jarvis scored on a deflection in the right area of the faceoff at 16:28 and the veteran striker Nino Niederreiter he delivered an instant shot from the top of the left faceoff circle at 18:38 to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead.
“The talk on the bench and between the first and second (period) was that we were playing a really solid game on the road against a team that plays well at home,” Hall said. “It was, ‘Can we create those second chances and can we stay at the net and get some rebounds our way?’ Unfortunately, we didn’t do that, and they got their audience on board.”
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy wasn’t ready to name his starting goalie for Game 2 Wednesday in Raleigh when asked about the matter after the game.
“I’m not blaming our goalkeeper for this,” he said. “We had some chances that we needed to finish as well as them. Whichever goalkeeper is there for us, you have to fight to find pucks in this series. I thought the same at the other end from the start… Raanta was struggling to find them, there were some bounces there, we just didn’t capitalize.
“We’re going to have to do a better job in the lanes and Linus is going to have to work harder to find him as well. That’s the hand they’re going to give him because they’ve got some big bodies camping up front so that’s going to be the challenge for any goalkeeper.
Carolina finished the regular season allowing 202 goals and a league-low 28.2 shots against per game. To their credit, the Bruins averaged 33 shots in their three losses to the Hurricanes, but most of them weren’t of the high-danger variety.
“His goaltender made saves, and there are some pucks around the front of the net that we just couldn’t place or get on the right track, but they were there,” Cassidy said Monday. “[Raanta] he also gets paid to play, and he did a good job of keeping them in the game from the start. It’s a team… if you’re ahead it’s an easier game for us but they play better when they have it. They’re made for that.”
Video: Raanta makes 35 saves in Carolina’s 5-1 win in Game 1
Carolina was 39-4-6 when she scored first this season; only the Colorado Avalanche had more wins (43) by scoring the first goal in a game.
“It opens them up a little bit if they’re behind, so it surely could have had an impact on the game if we finished in the first period (scoreless) (when Boston had a 14-10 shooting lead),” Cassidy said. . “It wasn’t for lack of effort. We were ready to play, but we couldn’t put anything in the net early on.”
Cassidy was also disappointed that his team couldn’t come up with any real momentum on his three power play opportunities (0-for-3, six shots). Carolina entered the game with the best penalty kick, leading the NHL with 88.0 percent in the regular season, but Boston’s power play has also struggled lately. Went on a 0-for-39 streak before David Pastrnack scored in a 5-0 win against the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday. The Bruins closed out the season going 1-for-1 with the man advantage on Friday in a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“It’s been a challenge for us the last month on the power play, but those guys have to own it a little bit more,” Cassidy said. “Those are our best guys, so hopefully there’s something better on Wednesday because we’ve got to get some life out of him.”