Bruins vs. Hurricanes playoff preview

Boston's top line key against strong Carolina penalty kill in first round

By NHL.com @NHLdotcom

August 10, 2020

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Tuesday.

Today, NHL.com previews the series between the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes, which will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the hub city for the Eastern Conference.

No. 4 Boston Bruins vs. No. 5 Carolina Hurricanes

Bruins: 0-3-0 in round-robin; 44-14-12, .714 points percentage in regular season

Hurricanes: 3-0 to win qualifier series against New York Rangers; 38-25-5, .596 points percentage in regular season

Season series: BOS 1-0-0; CAR 0-1-0

Game 1 is Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS)

The Bruins and Hurricanes will play in the Eastern Conference First Round in a rematch of the 2019 conference final, a four-game sweep by Boston that ended Carolina's surprisingly deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Hurricanes said they believe they are better prepared this time around.

"I just think for our group, since we're pretty young, last year was a huge step for all of us that haven't experienced the playoffs," forward Warren Foegele said. "Just having that experience and everyone just growing their game will be a lot better for our group.

"Yeah, there is some familiarity there [against the Bruins], but at the same time we're just focused on ourselves to try to take the experience we gained and apply it to the next round."

The Hurricanes were dominant in their Stanley Cup Qualifiers series against the Rangers, controlling the play for long stretches in the three games and outscoring them 11-4. They may be catching the Bruins in a bit of a rut too. Boston was outscored 9-4 in losses to the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers.

The Bruins, who won 14 of their final 18 games before the season was paused March 12, are not putting much stock into their struggles in the round-robin, especially considering that goalie Tuukka Rask was twice ruled unfit to play since the start of training camp July 13 and forwards David Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase each missed camp.

"I think these first round-robin games or whatever they were, you just try to shake the rust off and get your team game in a place you want it to be," Rask said. "I think we kind of improved over these three games. We worked very hard for our goals, just didn't get rewarded, but I think that's going to come, you find a way. It doesn't matter what seed you are, you have to beat every team anyways if you want to advance. I think we feel good. It's over now and we start real hockey."

The Bruins have won four of five playoff series against the Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers, including two of three since the franchise relocated to North Carolina in 1997.

Game breakers

Bruins:Pastrnak has taken his place as one of the best forwards in the NHL, tying Alex Ovechkin of Washington for most goals in the League this season with 48 and finishing first in power-play goals with 20. Center Patrice Bergeron makes Boston's top line go, but Pastrnak is the one who can break games open.

Hurricanes: Andrei Svechnikov scored his first NHL hat trick in Game 2 against the Rangers, a 4-1 win, scoring with a short-side wrist shot, a one-timer from the top of the right face-off circle and off a 2-on-1 rush. He had five points (three goals, two assists) and a plus-5 rating in the series. The forward's performance against New York built on a breakout season, his second in the NHL, when he scored 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) in 68 games.

NYR@CAR, Gm2: Svechnikov makes history with hatty

Goaltending

Bruins: Rask and Jaroslav Halak combined to win the William M. Jennings Trophy for Boston allowing the fewest goals in the NHL during the regular season (167). Rask is the starter and should get the bulk of the playing time, but Halak is a more-than-capable backup, if Rask falters. Rask, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the goalie voted the best in the NHL, had a 2.12 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in the regular season.

Hurricanes: Petr Mrazek and James Reimer played against the Rangers, and each was good, making it a difficult decision for coach Rod Brind'Amour regarding his starter for Game 1. Mrazek started Games 1 and 2 against New York, allowing three goals on 50 shots (.940 save percentage). Reimer started Game 3 and made the save on 37 of 38 shots (.974 save percentage). Brind'Amour said he doesn't think he can make a bad decision on who to start and anticipates both playing in the series.

Numbers to know

Bruins: With the Edmonton Oilers eliminated in the Qualifiers, the Bruins have the best remaining power play from the NHL regular season (25.2 percent). Pastrnak's 38 power-play points were third in the NHL behind Oilers forwards Leon Draisaitl (44) and Connor McDavid (43).

Hurricanes: Carolina went 13-for-14 on the penalty kill against New York (92.3 percent). … The Hurricanes outscored the Rangers 5-1 in the third period. … Sebastian Aho, who scored eight points (three goals, five assists) against New York, has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 18 NHL postseason games. Only two other players in Carolina/Hartford history scored 20 points in 18 or fewer postseason games, Eric Staal (20 points in 16 games) and Kevin Dineen (20 points in 18 games).

X-factors

Bruins: The Bruins acquired Kase in a trade from the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 21 to play right wing on David Krejci's line, a spot they've been trying to fill since Nathan Horton departed in free agency in 2013. Kase missed training camp because he was ruled unfit to participate and arrived in Toronto late. He played in a 2-1 loss to the Capitals on Sunday, getting the primary assist on Jake DeBrusk's goal. The Bruins hope he can find a home with DeBrusk and Krejci to give the Bruins needed scoring depth.

BOS@WSH, RR: DeBrusk corrals puck, slips in goal

Hurricanes:Brady Skjei had a big impact against the Rangers. The defenseman was not on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal-against. His hit on forward Jesper Fast 32 seconds into the first period of Game 1 gave the Hurricanes energy. They scored 29 seconds later. Skjei's point shot was deflected by Foegele for the winning goal in Game 3. He played 19:45 per game and had a shot attempts percentage of 54.8 percent. It was the impact the Hurricanes were hoping for when they acquired him in a trade from the Rangers on Feb. 24.

They said it

"Resiliency, I think that's the biggest thing. Even just going through my first couple years, just seeing the evolution of the veterans on our team like Tuukka and the guys that have been here before us. Obviously you want to be like them and try to take as many pointers [as you can]. I'd say resiliency, and this is the most resilient group I know." -- Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk

"I know we talk about the goalies all the time, but the players trust both guys. They're not worrying about who's in net. They've got to worry about their own game, so the last thing on their mind is who's in net. I know it's the first question you get asked all the time. Players don't care. They know they've got two guys they trust, and the coaches feel the same way. So it's actually probably the easiest decision as far as we don't think about it too much. We're right either way we go." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Will win if …

Bruins: The top line returns to form. The Bruins lost valuable time with Pastrnak when he was unfit to participate and quarantining during training camp. No one on the Bruins or the line -- Brad Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak -- appeared worried, knowing that their chemistry is almost a given. But they need to score and score enough to bolster a still-forming second line.

Hurricanes: Pursue the puck. The Hurricanes are at their best when they're aggressively forechecking to force turnovers. When they do it well, as they did for three games against the Rangers, they control the puck and the pace of the game. They generate offensive chances. They frustrate the opponent. They need their penalty kill to be as good as it was against New York and their power play to generate more (14.3 percent, 2-for-14), but their game and much of their success is predicated on an aggressive, relentless forecheck.