b’s bust ‘Canes bubble
Four straight goals lift team to victory
Faced with a best-of-three for their playoff lives, the Bruins got off the mat to erase a two-goal deficit in the third period, scoring four straight goals in a dizzying offensive display to take Game 4, 4-3, and grab a 3-1 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
Trailing 2-0 in the third period, the B’s blitzed the Canes for four goals in 6:51. They finally cashed in on one of their many great scoring chances at 7:26 of the third. Jake DeBrusk chipped a puck past Hadyn Fleury to create a short breakaway for himself. James Reimer came out of the net to play the puck but DeBrusk took it wide and flipped it into the empty net.
Then, just seconds after Charlie McAvoy had knocked defensive specialist Jordan Staal out of he game with a mammoth but clean hit, the B’s evened it up. Joakim Nordstrom threw the puck out high to Connor Clifton and the defenseman, a healthy scratch for the first two games of the series, pounded the puck over Reimer’s far shoulder to even the score at 10:10.
The B’s then took their first lead of the game with 11:40. Torey Krug sprung Brad Marchand for a breakaway and the crafty left wing simply slipped a soft shot through Reimer’s pads.
Finally, DeBrusk scored his second goal of the period on a nice feed from Ondrej Kase and the B’s won going away at 14:17.
“Any time you can contribute to a win it’s huge,” said DeBrusk. “I thought I was lucky on the first one and a great play by my linemates and we rallied for the win.”
Teuvo Teravainen scored with with 1:27 left in regulation with the goalie pulled, but the B’s hung on.
“Great game from him,” said Marchand of DeBrusk. “We needed him to step up and he did.”
The Bruins were looking at a 1-0 deficit after the first period, despite having a good start.
After getting an early power-play (Clifton drawing his second infraction in as many games), it appeared the B’s were set to score their first goal. Marchand had frozen Reimer with a pump fake from the left wing and instead zipped a nice pass over to Krug at the right circle. With half the net at which to shoot, Krug simply pushed the shot right back at
Reimer, who couldn’t help but make the save as he flailed wildly at the puck. And as was the case in the Game 2 Carolina win in which Reimer played, the B’s could not get to the loose rebound.
The B’s owned the first half of the opening 20 minutes until the Canes scored on their first shot on net at the 9:17 mark. And it wasn’t a great goal to allow from Jaroslav Halak.
Veteran Justin Williams came off the left boards and from the top of the left circle on his off wing and simply fired a shot on net. While Halak had to contend with some legal interference from Ryan Dzingel’s stick in front, but it appeared he saw it all the way and just whiffed with the glove.
The B’s had held a 5-0 shot advantage to start the game, but by the end of the period Carolina held a 7-6 edge and a whopping 17-7 lead in the faceoff dot.
Coach Bruce Cassidy broke up his first and third lines to start the second period. He made Charlie Coyle the right wing with Patrice Bergeron and Marchand, dropped Anders Bjork to the third line left wing and shifted Sean Kuraly to center between the two youngsters, Bjork and Jack Studnicka.
Early in the period, Marchand set up Bergeron for a chance almost as good as the one he gave Krug. He fed Bergeron at the left side of the net with Reimer down, but Bergeron could not corral the puck.
The chances continued. Studnicka gave David Krejci a great feed through the slot but he hit the near post. Then on a power play, the B’s did everything but score, keeping the puck in the offensive zone and their top PP unit on the ice for nearly the entire man advantage.
And after surviving that onslaught, the Canes delivered a counter punch that landed right on the nose. Skating down the left wing, Jordan Martinook had a clean look at the goal, and Halak at him. With Matt Grzelcyk closing on him, Martinook snapped off a shot that beat Halak to the glove side from the top of the circle. It was another goal Halak should have had.
The B’s, who’d been carrying the play, sagged after that and were frankly lucky they were down by only two goals.