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| Carolina Hurricanes vs. Boston Bruins - PKS Consulting LLC |
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Game Notes:
The Carolina Hurricanes host the the Boston Bruins at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday.
The is the final meeting between the two teams this season with the Bruins winning the two teams' previous games by scores of 5-3 and 6-2.
The Hurricanes' struggles continued with a recent 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday while the Bruins suffered a rare 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders on the same night.
Commentary for each period will follow on the hour.
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Before the puck drops:
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1st Period
This one started out like so many others have at PNC Arena with end-to-end action as both teams tried to get their offenses going.
It was Boston who got on the board first as a point shot from Matt Bartkowski was tipped in by Milan Lucic past Hurricanes netminder Justin Peters who was screened by the Bruins' forward and defenseman Justin Faulk, who was trying to tie him up.
The play was setup by Jaromir Jagr whose pass from the right corner found Bartkowski open to tee the shot up to help put the Bruins ahead 1-0 at the 6:07 mark.
While the Hurricanes outshot the Bruins 17-4 during the period as both Staal brothers had prime scoring opportunities, the remainder of the period highlighted three different fights and a goal from Jeff Skinner who tied the score at 19:24.
Kevin Westgarth lined up against Shawn Thornton as the two heavyweights danced, jabbed, and punched one another for at least a minute to 90 seconds before they skated off to the penalty box.
Five minutes later , as a play in the Bruins end was whistled down, Hurricanes defenseman Jay Harrison jabbed and poked at Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara before they both tangled in a much shorter exchange to the delight of the crowd full of supporters of both teams.
As the Hurricanes kept possession in the Boston zone on the power play as are result of Lucic taking an interference penalty at the same time of the Harrison/Chara fight, Faulk moved the puck down to Alexander Semin whose shot from Tukka Rask's right side bounced out along the goal line to Skinner who directed the back towards the net and bounced off Rask's back and into the net.
As the period neared an end, recently-called up forward Nicolas Blanchard squared off with the Bruins' Gregory Campbell and the two presented the most engaging matchup of the period.
With numerous punches landed, it was Blanchard who skated away with the decision in that one.
End of Period: Carolina1, Boston 1
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2nd Period
Both teams carried the momentum of the opening period into the the next one with the Bruins turning up the heat on Peters, outshooting Carolina 13-8 during the period.
However, the Hurricanes' efforts in killing off two penalties was key factor to staying close to the Bruins.
Boston took many shots on Peters during their 5-on-3 power play and he capped it off with a tremendous sprawling trapper save on Jaromir Jagr by his left post that kept the score tied 1-1 at the midpoint of the period.
Carolina finally got the opening they needed as defenseman Tim Gleason dumped the puck along the boards and as it circled along the kickplate behind the Boston net, Eric Staal made a quick backhand pass to Jiri Tlusty who found the top corner above Rask's shoulder to put Carolina ahead 2-1 with 5:56 to play.
As play continued to move through the neutral zone, Semin failed to push the puck past Andrew Ference and the turnover contributed towards the Bruins' next goal of the period.
After blocking the puck along the boards at center ice, Ference found an open Tyler Seguin who was all alone due to a poor line change by the Hurricanes defensive pairing of Jamie McBain and Bobby Sanguinetti, and the Bruins forward skated in on the breakaway and snapped the puck high over Peters' glove to tie the game 2-2 with 2:03 left in the period.
End of Period: Carolina 2, Boston 2
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3rd Period
The Hurricanes were able to match the Bruins possession for possession and shot for shot for the first part of the final period.
Peters played a large role in keeping Carolina in the game as he made many spectacular saves, particularly when the Hurricanes were shorthanded.
Jagr was once again the recipient of Peters' brilliant effort as he couldn't beat the netminder on two different occasions during the power play.
Carolina then took advantage of a power play opportunity presented to them when Chris Kelly was called for kneeing McBain by the Bruins blue line along the bench-side boards..
After getting a tap pass from Jordan Staal, defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron gained the blue line and kept the puck in the Bruins zone with pressure on him.
While keeping the puck in along the blue line, Bergeron slide a cross-ice pass to partner Joe Corvo who then rifled a shot over Rask's shoulder to put Carolina ahead 3-2 with 10:24 remaining.
The Bruins continued to put pressure on the Hurricanes for the remainder of the game, but Peters remained sharp while the Hurricanes continued to pepper Rask with shots to buy time.
Tlusty sealed the win with an ENG with 28 seconds to go as the Hurricanes earned their first win in eight games and first at home since Mar. 9.
Final: Carolina 4, Boston 2
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