The Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes will make familiar opponents for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round when they play each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third time in four seasons. The Bruins swept the Hurricanes in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final and eliminated them from the 2020 first round in five games.
The Hurricanes (54-20-8) won the Metropolitan Division, setting Carolina/Hartford Whalers records for wins and points (116). The Bruins (51-26-5) earned the first wild card into the playoffs from the East. Carolina won all three games in the regular-season series, outscoring Boston 16-1.
"Obviously, they had their way with us this year," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Some of that was a while ago, and I think our team is in a much better place than when we played them earlier in the year. So we're not going to take too much stock in that."
Carolina goalie Antti Raanta will make his first NHL postseason start in place of Frederik Andersen, who missed the final six games of the regular season with a lower-body injury. Raanta has five playoff appearances.
"That's pretty much the goal when you play hockey, you want to play these (playoff) games," Raanta said. "It's going to be exciting. I think the whole team is excited. At the same time, you just try to focus on the right things. It's more about preparing like it's a hockey game, not that special."
Raanta was 15-5-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average, .912 save percentage and two shutouts in the regular season.
"I actually think it's a positive in a lot of ways because of the excitement level," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "For 'Rants,' he's been around for a long time and I'm sure he's been really hungry to have this opportunity."
Pyotr Kochetkov will back up Raanta for Game 1. The 22-year-old made his NHL debut April 23 and went 3-0-0 with a 2.42 GAA and .902 save percentage in three games (two starts).
Teams that win Game 1 are 499-228 (68.8 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, including 6-2 in the first round last season.
Here are 3 keys for Game 1:
