Sean Kuraly scored a game winning third period goal, and second string goalie Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves as the Boston Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in game three of a first round Stanley Cup playoff series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday afternoon. Boston now leads the best of seven 2-1.
Just hours before the game, the Bruins organization announced that goaltender Tuuka Rask had opted out for the remainder of the 2020 playoffs to be at home with his wife and children. Halak started in net, making his first playoff start since 2015 when he was a member of the New York Islanders. Carolina dominated territorially and shots on goal (15-7) in the opening period, with their best chance hitting the post on a rebound during a powerplay opportunity. The best chance for Boston came late in the opening 20 when Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron broke in on a 2 on 1, but couldn’t convert and the teams remainded scoreless. The Bruins though would carry over a powerplay of 1:58 to the second, after the ‘Canes Trevor van Reimsdyk was called for a double minor for high sticking with 2:02 left in the first.
Boston took advantage when Brad Marchand took a dump in off the boards by David Krejci, fired one on goal that couldn’t be controlled by Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek, and Charlie Coyle batted it out of the air and into the net 14 seconds into the second to make it 1-0. The Bruins carried most of the play through the second, the opposite of the first period outshooting Carolina 20-8 in the middle period. The ‘Canes had their best chance when Sebastian Oho hit one off the crossbar and also another with a puck loose near the slot, but Halak came out of his net to move it out of harms way. Boston also had several Grade A opportunities that included a breakaway by Ondrej Case. After the early powerplay goal, both teams both had two powerplay opportunities including one for Carolina that would extend into the third period.
Boston extended the lead though shorthanded at 1:16 of the third that turned out to be the game winner. Coyle broke in and took a shot from the left faceoff circle to the right of Mrazek that was deflected in from the slot by Kuraly to make it 2-0. The Bruins again carried the play for the first few minutes of the period, outshooting Carolina 7-0. The ‘Canes though got a break while on the powerplay. On a dump in, Halak misplayed a puck behind his own net that he tried to clear but instead it went right to Nino Niederreiter who was all alone in the slot and put it into an empty cage at 6:30 to cut it to 2-1. The score stayed the same until the waining few moments of the game when Carolina pulled Mrazek with 2:07 to go to try to find the tying goal. It was not to be however, and Krejci lofted a lead pass to Marchand who tapped it into the empty net with 30 seconds left to ice it.
Both teams went 1-5 on the powerplay. Coyle and Marchand both had a goal and an assist in the Boston win, while Krejci had two assists. Mrazek made 36 stops in the loss. Carolina also lost one of their top players in right winger Andrei Svechnikov, to what may be a knee or ankle injury late in the game. The nature of the injury is still unknown. Game four is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday night.
