Game 2 Recap: Hamilton, Canes Even Series

TORONTO - A day after a heartbreaking double-overtime loss in Game 1, the Carolina Hurricanes evened up their First Round series against the Boston Bruins with a 3-2 win.

Dougie Hamilton netted the game-winning goal in the third period, while Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov potted back-to-back goals for the Canes in the second.

Here are five takeaways from Game 2.

1. Fighting Through

A coach's challenge controversy in Game 1. A double-overtime dagger. That was seemingly enough adversity to fight through from just a day prior, but more curveballs were thrown the Canes' way in Game 2. It is playoff hockey, after all.

The Bruins scored on their first two power plays, including one that tied the game at two with just 3.8 seconds left in the second period.

Oh, and there was another coach's challenge, too.

"You know, I'm just going to avoid those questions because I think I'll get in trouble," head coach Rod Brind'Amour shook his head.

Fair enough!

Despite the obstacles, the Canes battled through and were able to even the series at one game apiece.

"There's a lot at stake, obviously. There's a lot of adversity, and things happen in the game, and you have to be willing to adapt and fight through it," Brind'Amour said. "At every turn, everything that kind of seemed to go against us, the next shift, bounce back. I'm proud of the effort, for sure."

And don't think Brind'Amour's postgame comments from Wednesday, which cost the head coach $25,000, went unnoticed.

"We all respect him so much and play hard for him no matter what. When he said that, we wanted to win for him and rally for him. Not much else to say," Hamilton said. "We want to play hard for him, and we respect him so much."

The Canes played hard, indeed, admittedly after not having their best in Game 1, even though they pushed the Bruins to a second overtime.

In Game 2, the team felt they more so established their game, playing with the puck and putting more shots on Rask.

"We got to our game a little bit more tonight," Hamilton said. "Didn't have too much puck possession in their end yesterday. We got a little bit of that today and did what we need to do."

"There were a lot of ups and downs in that game," Brind'Amour said. "We had our moments where we were a little frustrated, but the guys put it behind them. I felt tonight they weren't going to be denied. I've got to give all the players all the credit in the world for this win."

2. Not Throwing Away His Shot

For Dougie Hamilton, scoring a goal in Game 2 was pretty special.

To start, it was his Gramma Joan's birthday.

"That one's for her," Hamilton smiled.

And then there was the fact that he scored it against his former team. In the third period. In the playoffs. And it was the game-winning goal.

Yeah, that one felt pretty good.

On the scoring play, Martin Necas stickhandled behind the Bruins' net and backhanded a pass to the top of the right circle for Hamilton, who tattooed a laser shot top-shelf past Tuukka Rask, and that ended up the difference in Game 2.

"It's been a long time since I played hockey. For seven months, you're thinking about that kind of stuff. Playing a game, scoring a goal, what it feels like," Hamilton said. "That's kind of what fuels you when you're in those tough moments in rehab. It feels great."

Hamilton finished the game a plus-1 with five shots on goal and three blocks in 24:20 of ice time, this just a little more than 24 hours after he played 26:48 in his first competitive game of hockey since mid-January.

"Impressive, especially back-to-back and all that layoff," Brind'Amour said. "The rust factor you figure would be there, but he was special and a huge goal tonight."

3. The Turning Point

Midway through the second period, the Canes trailed the Bruins, 1-0. They were just a shot away from tying the game, but it felt like they needed something more, some sort of shot in the arm.

Maybe Sebastian Aho weaving his way up the ice, through all five Bruins, and nearly finishing off the rush with a goal on a delayed penalty sequence, was just that.

On the ensuing power play, the Canes finally broke through.

Svechnikov spun off Brad Marchand to wire a pass across the ice to Teuvo Teravainen, who drifted toward the middle of the ice from the top of the right circle and sniped a quick wrister through a screen provided by Justin Williams and past Rask.

Just like that, the Canes had evened the score at one and tilted the ice.

4. Adding Another

How much did that sequence and the subsequent goal give the Canes some juice?

Not even 90 seconds later, Andrei Svechnikov put the Canes ahead by a goal, 2-1. With a keep at the point, Trevor van Riemsdyk sent the puck down the far wall to Necas, who recorded the primary assist on Hamilton's game-winner in the third. Taking a quick peek across the ice, Necas fired a pass to Svechnikov in the slot, and the Russian sophomore roofed a lethal wrister past Rask.

"Pretty impressive young man," Brind'Amour said of Svechnikov. "He's still learning - I say learning, but he's pretty much learned everything now. He's getting better and better."

5. Shuffling the Lineup

After both being unfit to play in Game 1, Justin Williams and Sami Vatanen reentered the Canes' lineup for Game 2, while Nino Niederreiter and Jake Gardiner sat out as healthy extras. Additionally, Joel Edmundson was ruled unfit to play, so Trevor van Riemsdyk drew in.

Williams recorded two shots and a blocked shot (and the screen in front of the net on Teravainen's power-play goal) in 12:28 of ice time. Vatanen posted two shots on goal and three additional attempts, plus a hit and three blocked shots in 19:17 of ice time. Van Riemsdyk, who notched the secondary assist on Svechnikov's go-ahead goal, logged three shots and two additional attempts in 12:55 of ice time.

The lines were also juggled around, as the coaching staff searched for a spark.

"I don't know how much closer this group can get. It was just one of those nights where I felt like good things were going to happen to us," Brind'Amour said. "Every time something seemed to go against us, we felt like we bounced back."

Up Next

Game 3 will be a midday special, as the Canes and Bruins face off on Saturday at noon.