Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak both scored their first goal of the playoffs on Friday night, as the Boston Bruins netted a pair of powerplay tallies en route a 4-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference First Round Playoff at TD Garden in Boston. Carolina still leads the best of seven series 2-1.
Vincent Trocheck gave the visiting Hurricanes a 1-0 lead, shoveling a rebound past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman at 9:17 of the first period. Boston struck back late in the first shorthanded, as Jake Debrusk made a beautiful pass to Charlie Coyle right in front of the goal and Coyle swept it past Pyotr Kochetkov at 17:16. Marchand put the hosts back in front for good at 5:41 of the second period, while Pastrnak had the eventual game winner on the powerplay at 14:53 to make it 3-1. Taylor Hall made it a three goal game with another powerplay marker at 4:08 of the third. Carolina sliced it back to a pair when Jaccob Slavin scored unassisted at 11:30. The guests would pull Kochetkov with 2:40 left for extra man and had some good chances, but came up empty.
Swayman in his first career playoff start made 25 saves in the win, after Linus Ullmark played the first two games in net. Marchand had a goal and two assists, while Pastrnak and Coyle each had one goal and one assist. Patrice Bergeron would also add a helper. Kochetkov, who came into action in Game 2 when second string goalie Antii Raanta was injured, would stop 24 shots in the Carolina loss. The Bruins went 2-5 on the powerplay, while the Hurricanes were 0-5. Game 4 is set for Sunday afternoon at 12:30, as the B’s will attempt to tie the series before heading back to North Carolina for Game 5.
