Emerging star defenseman Charlie McAvoy was suspended for Game 1 due to his hit on Columbus' Josh Anderson in Game 6 of that series so Steven Kampfer came into the lineup after only playing one game this entire postseason (Game 3 vs. Toronto). That also meant that rookie Connor Clifton slid up to the top defensive pairing with Zdeno Chara. Hockey has a funny way of finding unlikely heroes and wouldn't you know that Kampfer potted the first goal of the contest at 2:55 of the first period. Marcus Johansson started the play by taking the puck from Justin Faulk in Boston's defensive zone then holding onto it for a second in Carolina's defensive zone before he slid a backhand pass to Kampfer. The journeyman defenseman beat Petr Mrazek (23 saves) with a low and hard shot for his second career playoff goal.
Carolina had swept the Islanders in the second round so they had a few extra days off but that didn't appear to make them rusty. Sebastian Aho tied it just 47 seconds later after he tipped in a pass from rookie Andrei Svechnikov (aka the poor guy that Ovi knocked out in the 1st round) for his fifth goal of the playoffs. Jordan Staal had the second assist on Aho's ninth career goal in 10 games against the Bruins. The Hurricanes outshot the Bruins 10-8 in the first but the underdogs from the Dirty South began to dominate in the second. Their lone lead of Game 1 came on a tight call: fourth line center Greg McKegg (haha great name, he must love the suds) drove the net like you read about and ran into Tuukka Rask (29 saves) which caused the net to come off its moorings. The good news for Carolina and its five fans that were at the Garden, the puck actually crossed the goal line before McKegg made contact with Rask. McKegg's second goal of the playoffs was assisted by Jordan Martinook and Michael Ferland, his fellow fourth-liners.
Dressing room speeches between periods are overrated but whatever was said by Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy and his players before the third period couldn't have been more effective. Boston's top-ranked power play flexed its muscles with a pair of goals 28 seconds apart early in the frame: Marcus Johansson cleaned up a loose puck at 2:26 then Patrice Bergeron finished a pretty passing sequence from Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk. Johansson's third goal of the postseason was assisted by Marchand and David Krejci while Bergeron's goal was his sixth (tying David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle for the team lead). Goals in spurts was a theme all night as Boston shut the door on Carolina with an empty-netter then breakaway 11 seconds after that. Coyle was credited with the empty-netter at 17:47 after Brandon Carlo's clearing attempt deflected in off his body then Chris Wagner picked up his first playoff goal and point as a Bruin with a sweet move on Mrazek.
Boston improved to 53-49 all-time in Game 1s of best-of-seven series while Carolina dropped to 10-13 all-time in Game 1s. The Bruins' win streak was extended to four games while they simultaneously ended the Hurricanes' win streak at six games. Here's a crazy stat: the Canes allowed as many goals tonight as they gave up in all four games combined vs. the Islanders. Looking forward to Game 2 on Sunday afternoon (3, NBC), the Bruins are 32-19 in Game 2s when they lead a series 1-0 while the Hurricanes are 5-6 in Game 2s when trailing a series 0-1. Finally, Boston is 36-16 all-time in best-of-seven series when they lead a series 1-0 and Carolina is 5-6 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail 0-1. It's all about momentum in the playoffs and the B's split the first two home games vs. Toronto and then Columbus so going up 2-0 on Carolina would be a dream that would put a smile on your mom's face (don't forget that Sunday is Mother's Day you dopes!).
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