The Boston Bruins will enter the 2022 NHL Playoffs as the top wildcard team in the Eastern Conference, and will face the champions of the Metropolitan Division the Carolina Hurricanes in a best of seven series that begins Monday night in North Carolina.
Carolina (54-20-8) dominated the regular season meetings between the clubs. The Hurricanes outscored Boston 16-1 in the three meetings, that included 7-0 and 6-1 victories. The teams meet in the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons. Boston eliminated Carolina in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals and in the first round in 2020. The B’s had home ice advantage in those matchups, but the Hurricanes have the upperhand this season in that aspect.
Boston (51-26-5) will need to do much better on the powerplay to have a chance in the series. The Bruins have been playing real well 5 on 5 since a shakeup in lines by head coach Bruce Cassidy in early January and also got David Pastrnak back, who was out for three weeks due to injury. The powerplay struggled through a recent 0 for 39 stretch. Jake Debrusk should enter the playoffs with high confidence having tallied six points (three goals, three assists) in the last seven games. Hampus Lindholm, who the Bruins acquired from Anaheim, is the perfect defenseman to deploy against the top two lines of Carolina. The Hurricanes like to play a smooth skating game with high tempo, and that is the type of play that Lindholm thrives in. Chris Wagner also returned to the lineup in the regular season finale against Toronto, and should add some key depth. The starting goalie at least for game one will be Linus Ullmark. Ullmark was stellar at the end of the season and outplayed rookie Jeremy Swayman by a wide margin in March and April, that included wins over quality competition in Tampa Bay, NY Rangers, and Florida.
Here is the schedule breakdown for the series with game times for a possible Game 5, 6, and 7 to be determined-
Game 1 Mon, May 2 @Carolina 7 p.m.
Game 2 Wed, May 4 @Carolina 7 p.m.
Game 3 Fri, May 6 @Boston 7 p.m.
Game 4 Sun, May 8 @Boston 1 p.m.
*Game 5 Tues, May 10 @Carolina TBD
*Game 6 Thurs, May 12 @Boston TBD
*Game 7 Sat, May 14 @Carolina TBD
*- if necessary
