BSJ Game Report: Hurricanes 3, Bruins 2 - Bruins stick to same, painful script in crushing Game 7 loss to Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. — Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes in Game 7 , with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

B’s can’t solve road woes as another promising season comes to an end: Another Bruins campaign filled with so much promise came to a crushing end on Saturday evening — with a similar, painful script playing out down in Raleigh in what was a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Hurricanes.

For all of the chaos and unpredictability that often gets brewed up in a Game 7, the Bruins fell into the same bad habits that made PNC Arena a house of horrors this series — with poor discipline, a multi-goal deficit and a dearth of secondary scoring dooming Boston once again in another Cup run that sure felt like it was destined to endure a bit longer.

Yes, the Hurricanes are a very good team — teeming with depth, a suffocating gameplan and a committed five-man unit on just about every shift.

But to once again fall into the same malaise, slip into the same multi-goal hole — and suffer a similar fate, all while failing to land punches against a netminder like Antti Raanta — stands as a tough pill to swallow for this group. 

Add in the failure to adopt a shot-first mentality, pucks bouncing off sticks in Grade-A ice (or outright whiffs) and the flickering hope presented by David Pastrnak’s tally in the final minute of play — and all of the flaws (and promise) that we’ve seen all season from this team manifested itself into one unsatisfying conclusion.

Secondary scoring dries up … again: When it comes to identifying culprits responsible for another failed postseason campaign, it never does fall on just one individual, right? Sure, you dole out some blame to puck luck and other factors. But, just as we feared earlier this week, the Bruins were done in by a lack of production from the rest of Boston’s supporting cast.

While the Bergeron line landed a punch by way of a Jake DeBrusk tally and Pastrnak scored late (although it was far from a sterling performance from Boston’s top triggerman), the rest of Boston’s forward crop was AWOL for most of the night — especially a third line of Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and Craig Smith.

For a season that offered so much potential when it came to Boston finally spreading the wealth offensively — to have it end in this fashion, with Bergeron and Co. once again the lone grouping shouldering the scoring burden? It’s an awful look.

Bergeron’s status remains up in the air: Of course, beyond just the pain of another postseason campaign cut short — there stands the very tangible fear that this could be the final season for Patrice Bergeron, who, since September, has kept his cards close to his vest when it comes to his future.

As expected, Bergeron did not divulge much postgame, noting that “it’s too early right now” to make a definitive call. But based on both Bergeron and Brad Marchand’s emotional pressers, it’s clear that the B’s franchise cornerstones are fully cognizant of the situation and the fact that this team — especially with Bergeron at the helm — only has so many more kicks at the can.

TWO UP

Jake DeBrusk: If this is DeBrusk’s final game in a B’s sweater, he at least went out as one of the few B’s regulars who brought it on every shift. Along with his second-period goal that temporarily gave Boston life, DeBrusk was routinely moving his feet and looking to impact the game on just about every shift — pressuring puck carriers and looking to generate something off the forecheck. 

Bergeron Line: It’s a shame that the rest of Boston’s supporting cast didn’t arrive, because Bergeron and Boston’s top line at least did their part to give the B’s a chance in enemy territory — burying that chance against Jordan Staal’s line and coming oh so close to scoring the equalizer in the final seconds of play. 

FOUR DOWN

Third Line: On an evening in which a ton of Bruins regulars didn’t show up in a do-or-die contest, Boston’s third line stood alone when it came to what was a completely heinous effort. Through the first two periods of play, the Hurricanes buried two 5v5 tallies against the Frederic-Coyle-Smith line, with all three getting burned at various points for some brutal D-zone gaffes. After failing to close off a passing lane on Max Domi’s second goal of the contest, Frederic saw limited ice time— whole both Smith and Coyle ended up landing zero shots on goal in the loss.

Just unacceptable, given the stakes involved. 

Taylor Hall: After getting denied by Raanta with a Grade-A stop in the first period, Hall struggled to generate much of anything all night, either going off-net with his shots or not driving into Grade-A ice. His high-sticking call in the final minutes of the first was a brutal, undisciplined sequence for the Bruins — and even though Boston killed it off, Domi scored just seconds after Hall exited the box to make it a 2-0 game.

Derek Forbort: It’s generally been a strong series for Forbort, but be it a holding penalty in the first period or not getting in front of Domi on his second goal of the evening, this was a bad way for the blueliner to cap off his first season with Boston.

Power play: Boston only had one power play all evening, but the timing would have been perfect for the B’s to finally get the better of Carolina — with a delay of game penalty giving Boston’s man advantage a look at 13:33 in the third and trailing by two. But Boston did next to nothing, failing to land a single shot on goal in the two-minute sequence. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

LOOSE PUCKS

LOOKING AHEAD

Next up for the Bruins — an offseason once again filled with plenty of uncertainty, especially as it pertains to the future of their captain. Add in the pending status of DeBrusk and the viability of just how long this contention window can remain ajar, and the B’s might have some very hard truths to confront this summer. As always, we’ll have you covered every step of the way here at BSJ.

And as always, thank you all for following all season long. I’m thankful to get to interact with such a passionate readership base here at BSJ.