Final: Hurricanes 3, Bruins 2 - Zadorov breaks stick that results in game winning goal from Hurricanes

Another rough watch tonight for Boston fans as the Bruins lose to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. The effort was there for the Bruins tonight, but the hockey gods didn't work in their favor.

Early in the first period, the Bruins had two opportunities to score on the power play. However, on their first attempt, Boston let up their 10th short handed goal of the season to Sebastian Aho who roofed a backhanded goal around Joonas Korpisalo for the first goal of the game.

However, the Bruins were able to get on the board late in the period with Morgan Geekie firing a shot past Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov tying the game going into the first intermission.

The Bruins weren't tied with Carolina for long. Three minutes into the second period, Carolina regained their lead as Brent Burns fired a shot that ricocheted off of Parker Wotherspoon's stick. Boston outplayed Carolina for the majority of this period, but a bad bounce gave the Hurricanes the lead going into the final period.

Down a goal in the third period, the Bruins applied pressure on Kochetkov early. It eventually lead to Geekie scoring his second goal of the game on a rebounded shot in front of the net.

Late in the period, the Hurricanes got another lucky bounce goal as former Bruin Taylor Hall had his shot deflected by Mason Lohrei in front of the net. However, the goal ended up not counting after a successful coach's challenge by Joe Sacco reversing an offsides call.

With a minute left in the game, it looked like the game was heading into overtime. With the puck on his stick looking to deliver a pass cross-ice out of Boston's own defensive zone, Nikita Zadorov snapped his stick on a pass, and Seth Jarvis scooped the loose puck and scored the game winning goal for Carolina.

There was a lot of bad luck that went Boston's way, but they still missed out on a lot of opportunities. The Bruins missed on two early power play attempts, and they missed on a lot of their shots in the offensive zone with Carolina struggling to break the puck out. 

This is the final game before the NHL trade deadline, so Boston's roster will likely get another shakeup after a headache of a game.

Boston's next game is next Saturday as they will travel to Tampa Bay. Puck drop is at 3 p.m.

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WHO: Bruins (28-27-6) vs Hurricanes (36-22-4)
WHEN: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Lenovo Center, Raleigh
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub

LIVE BOX SCORE

ROSTERS

PROJECTED LINES

Boston

Geekie - Zacha - Pastrnak

Tufte - Lindholm - Coyle

Koepke - Poitras - Lettieri

Beecher - Kastelic - Brown

Zadorov - Carlo

Lohrei - Peeke

Wotherspoon - Mitchell

Korpisalo

Swayman

Carolina

Jarvis - Aho - Rantanen

Martinook - Staal - Svechnikov

Hall - Kotkaniemi - Blake

Robinson - Jost - Roslovic

Slavin - Burns

Orlov - Chatfield

Gostisbehere - Walker

Kochetov

Anderson

PREGAME NOTES

The Boston Bruins travel to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes in their first of two upcoming road games.

Earlier today, the Bruins made a variety of roster moves as they've dealt with the injuries of Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand. Boston called up forwards Vinni Letieri (on an emergency basis), Riley Tufte, and Patrick Brown and also called up defenseman Ian Mitchell. Georgii Merkulov, who had just one shot on goal in three games since he was called up, and Jeffrey Viel have been returned to Providence.

Additionally, the Bruins put defenseman Jordan Oesterle on waivers despite scoring in the last game he played with Boston. Ironically, Oesterle was picked up off waivers going to the Nashville Predators, the same team he scored on against. 

According to Canadian reporter Chris Johnston, of The Athletic and TSN, the Bruins are listening to trade offers as they negotiate with their captain (MassLive).