The day after Thanksgiving is a day off from work or school for a lot of people, but not the Bruins. Apparently, the B's special teams units did not get the message that today was a work day as the Bruins were shutout 3-0 by Cam Ward (37 saves) and the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday afternoon at TD Garden. The Bruins gave up 3 power play goals and could not get much going when they had the man advantage either (0 for 4 on the power play).
The Bruins came out with a lot of jump early in the game. The B's out-shot the Hurricanes 12-6 in the opening period and the Bruins had a few near-misses including a hit post by Blake Wheeler and a great save by Cam Ward to rob Nathan Horton from point blank range. However, it was the Hurricanes that struck first and held a 1-0 lead after the first period.
The Hurricanes made it 1-0 with a power play goal with 17 seconds left in the first period as Blake Wheeler looked on from the sin bin after being whistled for a hold. Daniel Paille lost control of the puck in the attacking zone to create an odd man rush for Carolina. Tuomo Ruutu and Jeff Skinner broke in 2 on 1 and Ruutu slid a pass to the rookie Skinner, who had plenty of net to shoot at. The goal was Jeff Skinner's 7th goal of the season and gives the 18 year-old forward his 18th point of the season, tops in the league among rookies.
Carolina cashed in again on the power play with Andrew Ference in the box for tripping. Tuomo Ruutu's shot from the high slot with traffic in front beat Tim Thomas on the glove side and made it 2-0 Carolina at 11:09 of the second period.
The penalty kill issues continued for the Bruins in the third period when Jussi Jokinen's power play goal made it 3-0 7:51 into the third period. A pass by Jeff Skinner into the slot to Eric Staal drew both Gregory Campbell and Mark Stuart. Staal lost an edge, but was able to move the puck to Jokinen at the right circle while still sprawled on the ice. Jokinen got off a quick shot that beat Thomas for his 5th tally of the season.
Notes:
- Jordan Caron was scratched from the lineup due to flu-like symptoms.
- Carolina was 3 for 3 on the power play.
- Zdeno Chara registered a game-high 6 shots on net.
- Tonight's game featured the older active player in the NHL (Mark Recchi) and the youngest active player (Jeff Skinner).
- Mark Recchi was honored with a presentation on the jumbotron celebrating his 1,500th NHL point during a TV timeout during the first period. Both teams gave Recchi a well-deserved stick salute.
- The Bruins are back in action on Sunday night when the Bruins head down south to take on the Atlanta Thrashers.
- For more on today's game from The Triangle, head over to Canes Country
- The bull gang is already hard at work switching the ice to the hardwood for tonight's Celtics-Raptors game. For more on the second half of Causeway Day, check out CelticsBlog