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Cloudy early, then thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 78F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..
A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 57F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Updated: May 18, 2024 @ 7:59 am
A lackluster performance in many facets saw the Carolina Hurricanes suffer a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon in their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Boston’s victory gives the Bruins a 2-1 series lead heading to Game 4 on Monday night in Toronto, but perhaps as concerning for the Hurricanes is the loss of one of their top players for possibly an extended period of time due to injury.
The Bruins scored twice on special teams – once on the power play and again on the penalty kill – and Carolina couldn’t find a solution to a new goaltender in the Boston net.
Carolina forward Andrei Svechnikov suffered an apparent right-leg injury late in the game when his limb got caught under him as he fell to the ice. Svechnikov tallied two points in the first two games of the series and registered five points against the New York Rangers, including a hat trick in Game 2 of the three-game qualifying series.
The Hurricanes’ lone goal Saturday came when Nino Niederreiter received a gift from Boston goalie Jaroslav Halak that the Carolina forward used to cut the deficit to one goal in the third period. Halak went behind his own net to play the puck, but unintentionally passed it to Niederreiter, who easily shot it into a vacant net for a power-play tally.
The Bruins announced before the game that starting goalie Tuukka Rask decided to opt out of the NHL bubble. Halak got the start in net in Rask’s place and made 29 saves on 30 Carolina shots.
“I want to be with my teammates competing, but at this moment there are things more important than hockey in my life, and that is being with my family,” Rask said in a statement.
Sean Kuraly netted a shorthanded goal to push the Bruins in front 2-0 just 1:16 into the final period.
Boston cashed in on a power-play opportunity 14 seconds into the second period, taking a 1-0 lead when Charlie Coyle batted a rebound out of midair and into the net.
After Carolina outshot the Bruins 15-7 in the first period, Boston turned the tables and unleashed a full-on offensive onslaught in the second period. Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek was up to the task, stopping 19 of Boston’s 20 second-period shots and keeping the Hurricanes afloat.
Mrazek finished the game with 36 saves on 38 shots.
Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal for Boston in the last minute of regulation.
The Hurricanes came close to scoring in the first period when Halak stopped a puck with his glove along the goal line. Replay review couldn’t conclusively determine if the puck fully crossed the goal line, so the call on the ice of no goal stood.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Boston bottles up Hurricanes to lead series
