BSJ Game Report: Hurricanes 7, Bruins 1 - B’s get shellacked by Carolina

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 7-1 loss to the Hurricanes, complete with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

After bestowing Willie O’Ree a long-overdue honor and raising his No. 22 jersey into the TD Garden rafters, the Bruins opted for the unorthodox tribute of trying to relinquish 22 goals to the Hurricanes on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

Carolina didn’t reach quite that scoring threshold — but it sure felt like it was a tangible nightmare scenario for the Bruins after the first 20 minutes of action. 

Behind a five-goal salvo in the opening period, the Hurricanes delivered a knockout punch against the B’s — eventually completing an embarrassing pantsing of the Bruins by way of a 7-1 final.

Patrice Bergeron scored the lone goal for the Bruins, who saw their five-game win streak snapped. Tuukka Rask was yanked from the game ahead of the second period after relinquishing those five goals on 12 shots. Linus Ullmark stopped 20 of 22 shots in relief. 

There’s not much else to say other than the first 20 minutes were an outright debacle — with the Hurricanes capitalizing early and often against a rusty Rask and a porous defense.

After Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi built Carolina a two-goal lead just 6:03 into the contest, Bergeron gave Boston a semblance of a spark with his power-play tally at 11:13.

But the hopes of a potential rally were dashed just 13 seconds later, with Kotkaniemi deflecting another shot past Rask to make it a 3-1 game.

Add in Seth Jarvis throttling Connor Clifton on a drive to the net and another slot chance buried by Derek Stepan — and this one was over long the scoreboard mercifully ticked down to zero in the third period.

ONE UP

Patrice Bergeron: Well, at least the Bruins weren’t shut out. Little victories, I guess. 

SEVEN DOWN

Tuukka Rask: Yep, a .583 save percentage is gonna land you on this list. *Surprise, surprise.*

Was Rask alone the reason for Boston’s first-period beatdown? 

Absolutely not. Hell, you could have put Duncan The Walrus between the pipes for Boston and he would have been lit up with that defensive performance in front of him. Still, far from Rask’s best, especially when it comes to rebound control and tracking the puck. 

Charlie McAvoy / Matt Grzelcyk: Ugly rebound from Rask … but uh, whaddaya doing here, guys?

Connor Clifton: Be it lax netfront coverage or getting absolutely walked by Jarvis on this goal — it was far from the best return to the ice for Clifton in this one.

Derek Forbort: A -2 night from Forbort, including getting caught looking on Teravainen’s opening tally just 3:44 into the game. A slow start for the stay-at-home skater since returning from the COVID list.

Urho Vaakanainen: After a couple of strong performances in a row, Vaakainen got a dose of reality of just how tough this league can be. That pass into no man’s land started the sequence that led to Jarvis’ goal — while he was caught looking on Andrei Svechnikov’s goal in the third period that made it a 7-1 game. Yuck.  

Power play: Yes, Bergeron might have struck on the power play in the opening frame, but any slim chance of a B’s rally was snuffed out in the following period when Boston did next to nothing on a 5-on-3 that lasted for over a minute. Given how deep of a deficit the B’s were in, not sure why you don’t shoot here if you’re David Pastrnak.

Bottom Six: Granted, next to no one had any gas in a game like this. But the Hurricanes absolutely feasted on both the Coyle and Nosek lines — outscoring Boston, 4-0, in their 16+ minutes of 5v5 ice time.

LOOSE PUCKS

B’s honor O’Ree

Carolina’s beatdown shouldn’t overshadow the main event of the night — with O’Ree becoming the 12th B’s player to have his number raised to the rafters.

While O’Ree, 86, was unable to attend in person due to travel and safety, he still watched via his home in San Diego as Bruins alumni Anson Carter and SCORE Boston representatives Dallas Jackson, Toryn Jackson, Austin Nelson and Donald Craft raised his jersey high above the Garden ice.

A tremendous honor for a true hockey pioneer. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

Well, this was entertaining, at least. 

QUOTE OF NOTE

"I think you've gotta burn the tape. “ - Patrice Bergeron

PARTING THOUGHTS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will have another tough opponent on the docket as they look to right the ship later this week — with the Washington Capitals coming to town on Thursday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.