FINAL: Hurricanes 3, Bruins 2 -Bruins rally comes up short, Carolina scores late go ahead goal

The Bruins came out very soft in the first 40 minutes that came back to haunt them in a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night. Boston played soft for the first 40 minutes as Carolina was living in the Boston zone. The Bruins struggled the first two periods to get into the Carolina zone or even gain puck control. The second period specifically caught my attention when Carolina was outshooting the Bruins 18-8 for the game five minutes into the second period. The Hurricanes were at their best when they were skating fast and getting off any shot they could as that is their style. The Bruins let them do whatever they wanted. Boston also got pretty sloppy with multiple penalties that came out of frustration. Carolina got on the board first at the 18:04 mark in the first period on a Martin Necas goal on the power play which made it 1-0. The Hurricanes added to the scoreboard thanks to Boston's lack of effort at the 11:50 mark in the second period with a Teuvo Teravainen goal on the man advantage. The Bruins penalty kill certainly took a step back tonight against a very good Carolina team. 

It was not until the third period when the Bruins finally started to gain momentum in the game. The Bruins came out firing early when Brad Marchand scored 1:30 into the third period.

 Marchand scored again at the 7:20 mark to tie it at two.

 The crowd was getting into the game and momentum had completely shifted to the Bruins, but Jordan Martinock scored on a breakaway at the 17:33 mark that went off of Linus Ullmark's glove and into the net. It was definitely a save that Ullmark should have made. 

The Bruins will be back in action in a back-to-back Thursday night in Ottawa to face the Senators at 7 p.m. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Bruins were outplayed for 40 minutes and you can not expect to win when that happens. Bruins came back to tie it but other than a better third period, Boston was disappointing tonight. 
• Ullmark has to make that save late in the third period. The way it bounced slowly into the net and based off his reaction, you can tell he knows he should have made the save. 
• I was impressed with Trent Frederic tonight as he finished with two assists and three hits. Frederic did a nice job of seeing the ice and starting plays leading to goals. 
• David Pastrnak did not have a great night which also led to their disappointing power play. 
• Bruins still finish the home stand going 4-1 in their five-game home stand. 

______________________________-

WHO: Hurricanes (25-15-5) at Bruins (29-8-9)
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: TD Garden, Boston.
TV: NESN, TNT
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

PROJECTED LINES

BRUINS

 Marchand –  Coyle –  Pastrnak 
Van Riemsdyk –  Zacha –  DeBrusk
 Lauko –  Geekie –  Frederic
Heinen –  Boqvist –  Steen

 Grzelcyk –  McAvoy
Lindholm –  Carlo
 Forbort –  Shattenkirk

 Ullmark
 Swayman

HURRICANES
Bunting - Aho - Teravainen
Noesen - Drury - Necas'
Martinook - Staal - Jarvis
Lemieux - Kotkaniemi - Fast

Slavin - Burns
Skjei - Pesce
Orlov - Chatfield

Martin

PREGAME NOTES
The Bruins close out their five-game home stand on Wednesday night when they face the Carolina Hurricanes at 7:30 p.m. Jim Montgomery told reporters this morning that Oskar Steen will take the place of Matt Poitras on the fourth-line right wing tonight. Kevin Shattenkirk will sub in for Parker Wotherspoon on the third line with Derek Forbort. The Bruins look to end the home stand perfect before hitting the road for two road games in Ottawa and Philadelphia before the All-Star Break. 

Jake DeBrusk has been on a tear lately recording 14 points, eight goals, and six assists in 14 games. “I think it’s the best version we’ve seen, even including last year,” Jim Montgomery said this morning of DeBrusk. 

Boston faces a Carolina team that is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. However, do not let that fool you as they have played good hockey after getting off to a slow start. The Hurricanes are currently in the middle of a 7-2-1 stretch. Carolina enters tonight in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 55 points behind the Flyers and Rangers.Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes with 51 points and 16 goals in 42 games. 

“They hunt pucks all over the ice,” Jim Montgomery said. “They punt a lot of pucks and they get their speed, they get their forwards out of the zone, they get on top of you. They pressure you all over the place, so that’s why I say it’s a hornet’s nest. They go to the net and spend more time in the offensive zone than any other team in the league," Montgomery continued. 

“I’m excited to play them, they are always a very tough team to play,” Brad Marchand said this morning. “It kind of feels like a playoff game every time you play them. It will be interesting to see…they’re playing really, really well right now. It’s a great challenge when you play a team like them,” Marchand Continued. 

 Aho has recorded 29 points in his last 18 games, tied with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second most of any skater over that span. Carolina has the highest penalty kill percentage since December (91.6%) as well as the highest power play percentage since December (34.3%). The Hurricanes also have the fourth most points on the season from defenseman at 114 in 45 games behind Tampa Bay, Vancouver and Colorado. Carolina also holds the third most goals scored by defenseman in the NHL with 30 in 45 games behind Montreal and Colorado. Lastly, Carolina leads the NHL with the fewest shots on goal allowed this season (25.3). 

Jack Drury returns to Boston tonight after playing his college hockey at Harvard from 2018-2020 where he played in four Beanpot games at TD Garden.