Recap: Bruins swept away by Hurricanes, 6-0

The Boston Bruins were shut out by the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-0, tonight at the TD Garden, as the team failed to step up in the wake of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand’s absence.

It’s the second time this season they’ve been shut out by the Hurricanes. The B’s finished their regular-season series against them 0-3-0, and also outscored by them 16-1.

The team has been without Bergeron and Marchand at various points this season, whether for COVID protocol or another suspension. But tonight, the B’s lacked the effort and fight that those players provide when the game starts to drift away.

The B’s had chances in the first period and put up a decent effort by playing physical which led to a few power-play opportunities. Some undisciplined plays, however, put the Bruins’ penalty kill to work.

The Bruins’ power play struggled, while Carolina’s capitalized on one of their three chances to give them an early 1-0 lead.

The B’s only trailed by one score entering the second period, but defensive mistakes began to add up and the Hurricanes were quick to jump on them. Carolina would have a 4-0 tilt by the end of 40 minutes.

The Hurricanes capitalized on a turnover as Brandon Carlo failed to clear the puck from the front of the net and made it 2-0. Goaltending was also not at its best, as the Canes’ following goal was scored on an uncontrolled rebound.

But throughout the second period and game, the Bruins’ defense made poor passing decisions and were outskated to the puck. They lost battles along the boards and behind the net and were flopping all over the place like on the Hurricane’s fourth goal.

It also didn’t help that during the second period Matt Grzelcyk exited the game with an upper-body injury.

The third period began with a slight chance to at least get on the board with the Bruins’ challenging a no-goal called on Nick Foligno’s drive. The ruling on the ice stood though.

As the game continued to get away from the Bruins, the Hurricanes added another 5v5 goal and capped off the shutout with their second power-play goal of the night to make the final score, 6-0.

Overall, the Bruins lacked just about everything tonight besides Charlie McAvoy trying to set a tone in the first period that his teammates didn’t carry forward.

The Bruins are back in action Saturday when they travel to Ottawa for a match against the Ottawa Senators at 12:30 pm.

Here’s a look at the Hurricanes’ goals period-by-period:

First period:

The Hurricanes opened the scoring at 8:26 of the first period on the power play.

At the top of the paint, Vincent Trocheck found Teuvo Teravainen’s rebound for a quick shot past Linus Ullmark’s glove. 1-0 Hurricanes.

Second period:

The Hurricanes extended their lead at 2:35 of the second period.

Capitalizing on a failed attempt by Brandon Carlo to clear the zone, Andrei Svechnikov picked up the loose puck in the slot to put a wrist shot over Ullmark’s blocker. 2-0 Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes cushioned their lead at 8:01 of the second period.

Teravainen’s shot left a huge rebound for Sebastian Aho crashing the net where he homered a quick shot past Ullmark’s right skate. 3-0 Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes continued their dominance with another goal at 14:02 of the second period.

After two back-to-back shots from Jordan Staal, Jesper Fast picked up the loose puck from Staal’s second attempt. He dropped a pass to Brett Pesce in the slot for a wrister past Ullmark’s blocker. 4-0 Hurricanes.

Third period:

The Hurricanes added another tally at 1:58 of the third period with their second power-play goal of the night.

Teravainen found an unmanned Aho at the far post for a swift backhander through Ullmark’s stick and right skate. 5-0 Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes capped off their shutout at 15:24 of the third period.

Off a face-off win, Brady Skjei threw a wrist shot on net which deflected off Staal and over Ullmark’s left shoulder. Final score: 6-0 Hurricanes.