Bruins out due to lack of secondary scoring, too much undisciplined play

The Boston Bruins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes, losing 3-2 in Game 7 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round on Saturday.

Boston (51-26-5) was the first wild card into the playoffs from the East. The Bruins have made the playoffs six straight seasons but have not advanced past the second round since losing to the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents:Patrice Bergeron, F; Anton Blidh, F; Josh Brown, D; Curtis Lazar, F; Jakub Zboril, D
Potential restricted free agents: Jack Ahcan, D; Jack Studnicka, F
Potential 2022 Draft picks: 6
Here are five reasons the Bruins were eliminated:

1. Starting from behind

The Bruins gave up the first goal in six of the seven games, allowing the Hurricanes to put them on their back foot even when they came out strong to start. Coach Bruce Cassidy noted that Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta made crucial first-period saves, like the one on Brad Marchand three minutes into Game 5 and on Taylor Hall 10 minutes into Game 7, that Bruins goalies didn't make.
In nine combined regular-season and playoff games against the Hurricanes, the Bruins scored first once, in Game 6.
That script repeated itself in Game 7, when Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen scored with 1:24 remaining in the first period, when the Bruins outshot the Hurricanes 11-10. Boston fell behind 2-0 at 3:14 of the second, and though the Bruins got one goal back in the second and scored in the waning seconds of the third period to make it a one-goal game, they never were able to recover from falling behind early.

2. Depth scoring

The Bruins' depth scoring went missing for most of the series, though it returned in Game 6. In the end, it wouldn't be enough.
Marchand scored 11 points (four goals, seven assists). Bergeron scored seven (three goals, four assists), and Charlie Coyle (two goals, four assists) and David Pastrnak (three goals, three assists) each scored six points. But beyond them, there was a decided lack of production. Charlie McAvoy scored five points, all assists. Jake DeBrusk (two goals, two assists) and Hall (two goals, two assists) each scored four points; Craig Smith scored zero points.
It's an issue the Bruins have had in previous playoffs, where the top line of Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak has been its usual productive self, while the rest of the lineup has failed to provide sufficient support.
The disappearance of Hall and Smith particularly was notable, and problematic, for the Bruins.

3. Lack of discipline

Cassidy made a point of saying before Game 7 that the Bruins needed to stay out of the penalty box.
They weren't able to come through.
The Bruins were shorthanded an NHL-high 36 times during the playoffs. Though the Hurricanes were third at 29 as the teams played a penalty-filled series, the Bruins were guilty even more often, and the Hurricanes scored five power-play goals.
Even more than the power-play goals given up was constantly being on the penalty kill took the Bruins out of their rhythm, overtaxed some of their players and got in the way of their own scoring.

4. Losing the goalie battle

For more than a decade, the Bruins could depend on goalie
Tuukka Rask
and have a very good chance that he would play well enough to win, and possibly steal a game in a series.
They didn't have that presence against the Hurricanes.
The Bruins started the series with Linus Ullmark, who allowed eight goals on 57 shots in the first two games. Rookie Jeremy Swayman replaced him for Game 3 and the Bruins won the next two games, plus Game 6.
Swayman never was bad in the series; his 2.63 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in five games were similar to Rask's rookie playoff numbers in 2009-10 (2.63 GAA, .912 save percentage in 13 games). But with Raanta making some crucial saves, especially early in games, Swayman was not quite good enough.

5. Road woes

The Bruins won the three games played at TD Garden during the series.
But the Hurricanes had home-ice advantage, meaning the only way for the Bruins to advance was to win at least one game at PNC Arena.
The Hurricanes were able to dictate the matchups during the games played in Carolina, often using line of Jordan Staal, Nino Niederreiter and Jesper Fast against the Bruins' top line to contain Marchand and Bergeron. And on a team that is as reliant on its top line and whose depth players were unable to score, that left the Bruins fighting for space that they just couldn't find. It also allowed the Hurricanes to come into Game 7 with a healthy dose of confidence in their ability to win at home, which they did.