Brad Marchand recorded five points on Sunday afternoon, including a game winning powerplay goal in the third period to lift the Boston Bruins over the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference First Round Playoff series at TD Garden in Boston. Both teams have stayed true on home ice with the best of seven now tied 2-2, with neither road team winning a game yet.
Antii Raanta returned for Carolina in net after leaving early in game two with an injury, while Boston went with rookie Jeremy Swayman for a second straight time. Brett Pesce got the Hurricanes on the board first, scoring at 14:06 of the opening period. The captain Patrice Bergeron evened things up the Bruins just over two minutes later at 16:09 on assists from Marchand and David Pastrnak. In the second it didn’t take long for the guests to regain the lead as Jordan Staal tallied just 33 seconds in. The score stayed the same until late in the period, and then there was a turning point in the game and possibly the series. Jake Debrusk poked home a rebound in the crease to make it 2-2, after Raanta couldn’t cover a loose puck at 18:44 for his first of the playoffs. Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour would challenge the play for goaltender interference. That challenge was lost giving Boston a powerplay, and then a 5 on 3 advantage when Bergeron was hit with a high stick by Sebastian Aho at 19:35. That powerplay carried into the third, when Marchand got the game winner with a hard wrist shot from the high slot glove side on Raanta at 44 seconds. Pastrnak scored a beautiful goal at 5:41 off a faceoff win by Bergeron. The puck went to Marchand in the left corner, and he sent a tape to tape pass left to right to Pastrnak to the left of the goalie and he tapped it in to make it 4-2. Marchand finished off his big day with an empty netter with 35 seconds left to play.
Swayman made 24 saves in the win. Marchand had the two goals and also three assists. Bergeron had one goal and two assists, while Debrusk and Pastrnak had one goal and one assist. Charlie Coyle had two helpers, and Brandon Carlo also chipped in one assist. The Bruins had nine powerplays, coverting on two of them. One of the their top defenseman was a scratch as Charlie McAvoy was placed in COVID protocol. Staal had a goal and an assist in the loss, and Raanta made 23 stops in net. Game 5 is back in North Carolina on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
