Cinderella Hurricanes going home in a pumpkin
Clock strikes midnight on Carolina as Bruins complete four-game sweep
Stay home, Cinderella. The fairy tale is over.
While the overriding theme during these NHL playoffs might have been about how the lesser lights had punched above their weight and knocked off the likes of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and other top-seeded teams, it was only a matter of time before the clock struck midnight.
Well, ding-dong, it finally happened.
The big, bad Boston Bruins are heading to the Stanley Cup final. And, no, a team that finished with the second-most points in the Eastern Conference this year didn’t do it with help from a fairy godmother — though Tuukka Rask seems to have the hockey gods back on his side these days.
The Eastern Conference final, which ended in a tidy four-game sweep after the Bruins won a decisive Game 4 by a 4-0 score, was a wake-up call for the Carolina Hurricanes. Heck, it was a wake-up call for the league.
This Boston team is built to win. There are no holes. No weaknesses. Even with Zdeno Chara and fourth-line forward Chris Wagner out of the lineup with injuries Thursday, the Hurricanes were no match for the Bruins.
Of course, much of that was because of Rask and Boston’s top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, which finally woke up and combined for all four goals in Game 4.
Carolina had no chance. What had worked against the Capitals and New York Islanders in previous rounds was no use against a team as stacked as Boston. The Hurricanes were not talented enough or deep enough or mentally strong enough to give the Bruins any kind of competition.
Once the Bruins came from behind to win Game 1, they smelled blood in the water. And in the following three games, they feasted on an opponent that really couldn’t do anything to make this a series.
That’s not a knock against the Hurricanes, who have to be proud about how they not only used a second-half surge to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in nine years, but also reached the conference final for the first time since 2009. But rather, it’s a reflection of just how good the Bruins are.
This is a team that has improved with each successive round. After needing a Game 7 to dispose of the Toronto Maple Leafs and then taking out the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games in the second round, the Bruins were far more efficient in the Eastern Conference final.
That’s not good news for either the San Jose Sharks (who lead the Western Conference final 2-1) or the St. Louis Blues.
The way the Bruins are playing is downright scary. They are getting offence from all four lines, are scoring at will on the power play and have a goalie in Rask who would win the Conn Smythe Trophy if the playoffs ended today.
Rask, who allowed five goals in four games against the Hurricanes, turned in yet another gem in Game 4, stopping all 24 shots he faced for his second shutout of the playoffs. But it was the top line that really came alive.
It spoke to Boston’s impressive depth that heading into Game 4 the team’s big guns had combined for only two goals (Wagner had scored as many on his own) and had combined for only six points in the series. On Thursday night alone, they combined for eight points.
Bergeron scored twice and had an assist, Pastrnak had a goal and two assists, while Marchand had a goal and an assist. Four of those eight points came on the power play.
After a scoreless first period, Boston’s No. 1-ranked power play went to work after Carolina was called for too many men on the ice followed by a goalie interference penalty on Greg McKegg. For the Hurricanes, who had given up five power-play goals on 12 attempts in the previous three games, it was the equivalent of playing with fire.
Once again, they got burned. Rushing up the ice on the man advantage, Pastrnak and Marchand played give-and-go with the puck, with Marchand faking a shot and finding Pastrnak with a no-look pass to make it 1-0 at 4:46 in the second period. With the period coming to an end, Bergeron scored the Bruins’ 17th power-play goal of the post-season and their seventh of the series.
This time, it was Bergeron and Pastrnak playing give-and-go with the puck, with Bergeron finishing the play on a shot that Carolina’s Curtis McElhinney had no chance of saving.
In the third period, Bergeron finally scored his first evenstrength goal of the series before Marchand added another.
That sealed it. Then again, this one-sided series had been over long before then.