B’s finally weather Canes
Stars show up to breathe some life into series
With their season on the line, the Bruins needed their big boys to step up and make a difference for a change. Mission accomplished.
The B’s got goals from Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall, and Jeremy Swayman earned his first career playoff win to lift the B’s to a 4-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 at the Garden on Friday night.
The Canes still hold a 2-1 series lead, but the Bruins demonstrated that they do indeed have a pulse in their first win over Carolina in their sixth try this season. Game 4 is Sunday at the Garden at 12:30 p.m.
“I’m not living in (the stars’) heads, but I know that the onus this time of year is on your best players being your best players,” said coach Bruce Cassidy. “How many games are there tonight? Four games, we’ll probably hear it four times from coaches on the winning team. Typically that’s what you need, not every night, but typically. And tonight they were.”
Marchand led the way with three points while Coyle and Pastrnak also added helpers.
“I think it’s the most I felt engaged. It’s kind of been a little while since I felt that into a game,” said Marchand. “With the importance of the situation, I think it hit us all.”
While the big guns showed up, there were no passengers. The B’s got key contributions throughout the lineup. Curtis Lazar and Tomas Nosek both drew penalties while the B’s killed off all five penalties they took. Derek Forbort put in a yeoman’s effort, especially on the kill, as he blocked nine shots on the night.
“I love that guy. He’s the man,” said Swayman (25 saves). He’s been doing that all year for us, too. So nothing new for him. He does everything for the team, for the crest and it shows. Guys play hard for him and he does the same for us. He’s an awesome person to have in front of me.”
Much of the first period went according to the script they played out in the first two games. The B’s got not only the first, but the second power play, only to come up with nothing.
And then, of course, the Canes took the first lead on what looked like a nothing play. Brandon Carlo first played the puck near the Boston blue line to Erik Haula, who could not move it in the right direction. Carlo retrieved it in the right corner and he tried to play it up to Jake DeBrusk. It eluded him and went right to Brendan Smith at the left point. As Carlo battled with Vincent Trocheck in front, Smith flipped a shot to the net. After it hit Trocheck’s skate, he was able to corral the ricochet and swipe it past Swayman at 9:17 for what has become the traditional Carolina 1-0 lead.
When Haula was called for tripping Jesper Fast at 16:07, the sense of dread at the Garden was palpable.
But then, out of nowhere, the B’s made something good happen. On the kill, DeBrusk broke out on a 2-on-1 with Coyle and fed the centerman for his first goal of the series, a shorthanded tally at 17:16. The Garden erupted.
“That changed our whole demeanor,” said Marchand. “We’ve been playing catchup all series and it felt good to know we can come back in those situations like we have in the past.”
While the building was buzzing, it looked like Marchand might have a chance to break though the neutral zone with a decent break, but he chopped Tony DeAngelo’s stick out of his hands and was called for slashing with 34 seconds left in the period.
The B’s were able to kill that off to start the second and then, at 5:41, Marchand gave the B’s their first lead in six games this season against the Canes. Marchand won a puck along the right boards and got it to Patrice Bergeron in the slot for a snap shot that was blocked into the air. When it came down, Marchand pounced on it. He fanned once but maintained control and beat Pyotr Kochetkov for his first of the playoffs.
But if the B’s thought playing with a lead against Carolina was going to be easy, they were mistaken. The Canes hemmed the B’s in their zone until Connor Clifton took a crosscheck penalty.
The B’s killed that off, but in the immediate aftermath the Canes threw everything at Swayman but he — and his teammates — somehow kept the puck out.
The B’s then got a great chance to extend the lead and they capitalized. After Curtis Lazar drew his second penalty of the game, Trocheck tripped Marchand to give them a lengthy 5-on-3. The B’s didn’t score on the two-man advantage, but with seconds winding down on Trocheck’s penalty, Pastrnak managed to slip a wrist shot past Brett Pesce to beat Kochetkov short-side at 14:53.
In the immediate bedlam after the goal, a scary situation occurred. A pane of heavy Plexiglass behind the penalty box fell down on office official Joe Foley. He was down for several minutes as medical personnel rushed to his aid and a hush fell over the crowd. Foley was eventually taken out of the playing area on a stretcher and he was taken to Mass. General for observation, according to the NHL.
The incident was reminiscent of another playoff mishap involving the glass. After a Bruins playoff win in 2012, a pane came unfastened and hit David Krejci on the head.
When play resumed, the B’s had to kill another penalty, a strange roughing penalty on Clifton against Brendan Smith that appeared to be pretty clean. But Smith was bloodied and the officials called it a major before reviewing and dropping it to a minor.
But they killed it off, and early in the third period, Tomas Nosek drew another penalty on Trocheck. On the advantage, a pretty Pastrnak-to-Hall pass gave the B’s a three-goal lead at 4:08.
The B’s looked like they were going to smother the Canes the rest of the way, but Swayman coughed up a bad goal with 8:30 left in the third. Clifton and Coyle could not clear the puck along the left boards and it was stopped by Jaccob Slavin, who snapped a long-distance shot that somehow beat Swayman over the glove shoulder. Jordan Staal was there for the tip but he did not get it.
That’s as close as the Canes would get, as the B’s showed they can play a little defense, too.