Bruins need to boost their ‘inside game’ vs. Hurricanes
If there is a key to beating the speedy, efficient Carolina Hurricanes, the Bruins have yet to find it this season. In their three meetings, the Hurricanes chewed up the Bruins by a collective score of 16-1, struck five times on 12 power-play chances, and held a lopsided 152:35 to 00:00 advantage in lead time.
It was, in the spirit of that old, forgotten Atlanta franchise, a total thrashing.
“They’ve had their way with us,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy following Friday night’s season wrapup, a 5-2 loss, in Toronto.
The Hurricanes led the league this season in team defense, yielding only 200 goals across 82 games, 152 of those at 5-on-5, ranking second best in the league in that critical category. They also killed 88 percent of opposition power plays, also No. 1.
Perpetually in motion from the opening faceoff, the Hurricanes are fast, aggressive, nearly robotic in their execution. Perhaps most impressive of all, they are all of that from start to finish, a tribute to their coaching (Rod Brind’amour) and the Energizer Bunny legs and discipline it takes to carry out such a demanding game plan.
So, going into Game 1 of the best-of-seven series Monday night in Raleigh, job No. 1 for the Bruins is to identify the Hurricanes’ vulnerability — if there is one — and then try to exploit it.
Easy? No. But far from impossible.
It will come down to forcing the Hurricanes into a game they typically haven’t had to play, making them grind in their own end. It will require first denying them the ability to generate speed to break out, and in turn establishing that “inside ice” game that, quite frankly, has been a fatal Bruins bugaboo in recent playoff seasons.
In both 2018 and 2020, the Bruins were sent packing by the Lightning in Round 2, repeatedly ineffective when it came to slipping under the stout, skilled Tampa defense and landing meaningful, never mind successful, chances on netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The same trap door happened in Round 2 last June
against the Islanders. While the Bruins’ own backline grew increasingly porous due to injury, the Isles defenders seemed to grow only bigger and stronger. Boston forwards again were unable to produce Grade A chances on net, and the series ended in six games — one more than it took the Bolts in both ‘18 and ‘20. An extra 60 minutes. Small consolation.
“It’s what you need in the playoffs,” said No. 3 center Charlie Coyle prior to packing up Friday night in Toronto. “It’s hard to get to the dirty areas, get inside them and create havoc down there. It’s not always pretty goals. … It’s second, third and fourth efforts, tips around the net, garbage goals . ... You need to get inside and get around their net.”
The Hurricanes, for all their gifts, aren’t built on the backline with the kind of moxie and heft that the Bruins faced when eliminated by the Bolts and Isles.
Carolina blue liners deliver points, in abundance. Their top four producers back there, including Rangers refugee Tony Deangelo (51 points), Jaccob Slavin (42), Brady Skjei (39) and Brett Pesce (28) combined for a 30-130—160 line across 82 games.
The Bruins, meanwhile, dressed 13 defensemen for the season, and their collective line was 31—119—150. It’s pretty obvious the Hurricanes prefer to tilt the ice with their defensemen headed downhill.
It will be up to the Boston forwards first to pressure Deangelo, Slavin, Skjei, and Pesce, be it by driving pucks to the back wall to keep possession or force turnovers, or by smart, strong puck plays in front and around the net. The Bruins will want to make this a sandpaper series, while the Hurricanes, especially on the back, will prefer a game of quick outs, fast advances, and O-zone rushes.