Recap: Bruins eliminate Canes with 2-1 win, advance to second round

The Bruins closed out their first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes this evening with a strong special teams performance that led to a 2-1 victory.

The Hurricanes took the lead midway through the first period with a goal from Haydn Fleury.

Sebastian Aho sent a pass back to Fleury who from the top of the right face-off circle, threw a wrist shot over Jaroslav Halak’s stick inside the top post, making the score 1-0.

The Bruins looked good, but not spectacular during the first period. David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk and Ondrej Kase made some nice cycling plays. Jack Studnicka had chances.

But overall, everything could have been better. David Pastrnak had issues getting the puck out of the defensive zone. Halak made big saves, like on Justin Williams, and kept the Bruins competitive that period.

The Bruins picked up their first power-play of the game after Patrice Bergeron was hooked on a breakaway, which could have easily been a penalty shot. Can’t be bitter though because the power-play unit came through.

Krejci evened the game with a power-play goal at 15:20 of the second period: bodies were in front of the net for Bergeron’s shot, which hit Pastrnak’s leg and came out to Krejci at the top of the paint. He slid the puck low past Petr Mrazek to make the score 1-1.

The Bruins found their groove on the power play, cashing in on another man advantage with four seconds left in the second period.

Bergeron picked up the puck from Pastrnak’s shot behind the net, where he took a hard-angled shot from behind the goal line that hit the inside of Mrazek’s skates to go into the net, putting the Bruins up 2-1.

The Bruins held the Hurricanes to six shots in the third and kept Carolina’s one power-play chance in the period off the board.

Although the B’s special teams couldn’t produce a goal in the final frame, they still looked strong, particularly with opportunities from Krejci and Torey Krug.

Ultimately, the power play struck when it needed to and helped the Bruins eliminate the Hurricanes, four games to one.

Other highlights: Zdeno Chara saving a goal, and yes, Halak coming up big this game.

Game notes

• Halak made 23 saves
• With his goal, David Krejci finished the series with at least a point in every game.
• Bruins were 2/4 on the power play
• Bruins outshot the Hurricanes 27-24

On to the next round!