Bruins clinch playoff berth; set NHL record in 4-2 win over Carolina

The Bruins clinched a playoff berth with a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden as the B's re-wrote the NHL record book by scoring 3 shorthanded goals in the span of 1:04 during the second period. Daniel Paille, Blake Wheeler, Steve Begin, and Milan Lucic all found the back of the net for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask made 33 saves to help the B's punch a ticket to the postseason.

After a scoreless first period, the Bruins scored 3 shorthanded goals in the span of 1:04 to give themselves a 3-goal cushion.

The B's started their goal scoring blitz 32 seconds into the second period on a shorthanded goal from Daniel Paille. Paille carried the puck from the right wing corner, skated to the front of the net, and momentarily lost possession of the puck before beating Cam Ward with a wrister from the left circle.

Blake Wheeler made it 2-0 49 seconds later. David Krejci's pass from the right wing corner found Wheeler in the slot for his 18th goal of the season.

Steve Begin added another shorthanded goal 15 seconds after Wheeler's shorty to make it 3-0. Begin's wrister beat Ward 5-hole after Dennis Wideman made a pass to start Begin's rush.

Erik Cole's wraparound backhander with 5:30 left in the second period cut the Bruins' lead to 3-1.

The Hurricanes made it a one-goal game at 17:06 of the second period when Patrick Dwyer's wrister from the slot beat Tuukka Rask high on the glove side.

Patrice Bergeron appeared to have made it 4-2 late in the second period after he put home a rebound, but the goal was waved off. The referee blew the whistle thinking that Cam Ward had tied up the puck, but it looked like the Hurricanes caught a break since Ward never really had control of the puck. 

Carolina came very close to tying the game up on a freak play 2:55 into the third period. Tuukka Rask was out of the net on a delayed penalty call when the puck made its way toward the empty net. Patrice Bergeron sprinted back and cleared the puck inches before the goal line to keep it a 3-2 hockey game.

With 1:00 remaining in the third period, Milan Lucic sealed the game and a playoff berth for the Bruins when he tapped the puck into the empty net.

Notes:

- The Bruins will play either the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, or Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

- The Bruins were 62% in the face-off circle tonight.

- The Bruins finished with a home record of 18-17-6

- Now it's off to DC to finish the regular season with a Sunday matinee matchup with the Washington Capitals.